Transmutations
(full orchestra)

 

I Inheritance II Olivacea III Fragmentation IV Decomposition

The thematic material of the three preceding stages of Age of Wonders evolves finally to this work for full orchestra. However, the overall form of Transmutations also develops; four smaller sections are held within the one-movement structure first seen in The Man Who Walked With Henslow. By the time of Transmutations, certain ideas, motifs, and points of interest have emerged and established themselves, not within some grand design but more through a process of natural selection. In other words, they proved to have the strength to be maintained and developed while other musical moments proved not to have the necessary components for progress. Interestingly, this was not necessarily through any weakness of their own - after all, they arose from the same structures - rather that the overall demands of this orchestral piece resulted in certain fragments suiting the purpose better.

The four sections of Transmutations show both similarity and variation. The first, Inheritance, opens with a full orchestration of the close of An Entangled Bank; the short scale figure maintains its importance but the harmony has been modernized to reflect developments post-Darwin. This is followed by a short period of growth before the lower strings pick up an important link from The Beagle quartet - the slow, tortoise-like motif which itself had grown from 'the death of Darwin's mother' in the first piece for violin and piano. Inheritance closes with a reference to the 'drifting' first heard in The Beagle, this time the brass giving a 1940s feel to the music.

The second section, Olivacea, takes up one of the 'finch motifs' which emerged in the quartet and provided contrast in the second movement of An Entangled Bank. The wider range of timbre available in an orchestral context gives more vibrancy compared with the delicacy of its origin, and as the brass and percussion increase the force, the section shows further glimpses of music typical of the 20th century.

The third section, Fragmentation, is itself broken into four sub-movements. In An Entangled Bank one of the most important moments occurred when the scale finally reached its full eight notes, spread across the strings. One bar of this, combined with the slow, march-like character of earlier episodes within Age of Wonders form the bulk of this first fragment. Contrasted suddenly by the strings taking up the three-note scale figure, and a further mutation of the earlier growth, it emerges into a fuller orchestration of 'drifting' and the climax of the piece via the rhythmic brass.

Tubular bells announce the fourth section and serve not only to recall the bells of Downe village (first heard in An Entangled Bank) but also to mark a new sculpture in Darwin, Australia. From the outset the work begins to deconstruct/decompose, and at times there is undoubtedly a feeling of discomfort to the unravelling. However, in a final coda the warmth of Charles Darwin is re-established, the work completing with a reminder of the close of The Man Who Walked With Henslow. Thus, Transmutations returns 'from whence it came', a solo violin and the interval of an octave.