Our senior wind band were lucky enough to work with composer and clarinettist Arun Ghosh in the creation and premiere of a brand new commission as part of the PRSF New Music Biennial 2019. The piece is called Ambhas and is about water, inspired by journeys to Hull from ancient times. The name has Sanskrit origins:
Humber is a Celtic river name meaning ‘good/well’ and the root can be traced back to the Sanskrit ‘Ambhas’ meaning water. The antiquity of the mane demonstrates the river’s importance.
The piece is in 3 movements which move from a heavy, driving, energetic groove to a reflective and melodic mood and finish with a lively and fun groove.
Arun and his band came to work with us for 4 rehearsals and developed the piece with the band incorporating improvised sections featuring Hollie Goodwin on the euphonium and Albert Goulder on the tenor saxophone. It was a fantastic experience to work with Arun, to be part of the composition process and see how he developed his ideas. The wind band then performed Ambhas at the Southbank centre in London and then in Hull on the pier right next to the river Humber.
You can listen to the recording made for BBC radio 3 here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0006lym
and see more information about the whole weekend here: https://www.newmusicbiennial.co.uk/new-music-biennial-2019/
