In The Shadow Of The Bat - Concerto for Three Trombones and Orchestra by Niels Marthinsen (2009). Programme note: In the Shadow of the Bat is a triple concerto for three trombones and orchestra inspired by Batman and his enemies The Joker Two-Face and The Penguin. A central idea of modern versions of the Batman myth is that the batman is created by the fantastic villains that he fights and they are created by him - and that Batman is driven by revenge and hate barely held in check by an intense sense of justice. Batman represents 'the dark side' while the villains are hyper-imaginative colourful creative caracters who happen to be completely insane. The rivalry between soloists and orchestra is anything but friendly: The three soloists represent one villain each the orchestra 'is' the batman - and while the villains take centre stage during most of the concerto they are eventually overwhelmed by the sheer power of the orchestra and sent where they belong: The lunatic's asylum. The concerto begins with the creation of the batman: An eight year old boy persuades his parents to leave an opera performance before it is over; outside in an alley they are shot and killed by a criminal while the boy watches. And he decides that all criminals must be punished! Then follows the Villaineuos Fugue: a multi-part fugue-like exposition of villain motives and stylistic environments. It is the exposition of the joker (alto trombone) two-face (tenor trombone) and the penguin (bass trombone). And after a brief and very slow interlude where the three criminals form an alliance and make their plans the Toccata of Crime begins: Bright fast moving highly energetic expansive and colourful music still dominated by the soloists. But later the orchestra moves to centre stage with slow omnious swooping bat-music that climaxes as the soloists are defeated by the orchestra. In the Shadow of the Bat is commissioned

Score-Charles Ives' Third Symphony ‘The Camp Meeting’ is the most concisely-scored of his five symphonies. Containing only Strings a few Winds Horns and Trombone this is a clear and uncluttered reminiscence of nineteenth centuryAmerica as viewed through some of its traditional hymn tunes and in doing so evokes the old 'camp meetings' which were such a feature of pioneer life. The first movement ‘Old Folks' Gatherin'’ is a patchwork of hymntunes drifting through an unpredictable constantly changing harmonic orientation. After a climax is reached a quiet passage opens with oboe and flute over hushed distant strings. Ives reintroduces part of the middle section and settles down to a quiet coda ending the movement almost imperceptibly. The second movement ‘Children's Day’ opens with strings in two parts over Haydnesque eighth notes in the horns. ‘There is a Fountain Filled withBlood’ ‘Happy Land’ ‘Naomi’ and ‘There's Music in the Air’ all are heard. As this is a movement depicting children at play Ives is playful himself weaving hymn tunes into one another in a somewhat tongue-in-cheek manner. Thethird movement ‘Communion’ is darker in tone than the others and provides a psychologically satisfactory close to the work as a whole. This is the 1990 edition of the Score The Charles Ives Society Critical Edition edited byKenneth Singleton and reprinted in 2001. It contains substantial notes on Ives and this work.

Score-'RiverRun' was Steven Albert's third work inspired by the writing of James Joyce. The opening movement ‘Rain Music’ is meant to convey the origins of a river. After the sharply accented chords of the movement's introduction themusic becomes quieter suggesting an atmosphere of expectancy. The lightly scored second movement ‘Leafy Speafing’ has a languid cadenza-like opening on alto flute followed by a more tightly focused thematic idea from thesolo viola. The two instruments then engage in a quiet dialogue against the softly changing chords.The third movement ‘Beside the Rivering Waters’ is a fragmented march and scherzo. It opens with a children'ssong. The march for the pit band follows and we are engulfed in a boozy wake. The scherzo brings a return of the current then the march returns abruptly followed by the children's tune - which is in turn transformedinto a raucous pub song. Throughout the fourth movement ‘RiversEnd’ musical ideas from the preceding movements are recalled. Night is falling and the river is moving quietly into darkness. As it approaches the open sea itsmomentum builds and it soon becomes a torrent spilling into the ocean. The work ends quietly.