- Forces (whole work)
- 2 flutes (II doubling piccolo), 2 oboes (II doubling cor anglais), 2 clarinets in B♭, 2 bassoons (II doubling contrabassoon), 4 horns, 3 trumpets in B♭, 2 trombones, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, percussion (2), strings
- Duration
- 4 minutes 25 seconds
- Difficulty
- Within reach of a good amateur orchestra
- Status
- Available
- Materials
- Conductor's score on A3 (or Tabloid) · parts on A4 (or Letter) · playback render
Programme note
Stone, Uttoxeter, Eccleshall, Alrewas.
A bustling and faintly clumsy scherzo: phrases that run on a bar too long, cadences that arrive too early, an accompaniment that will not stay still. A solo bassoon stops proceedings altogether to say something very expressive and quite uncalled for, and then repeats its best note two octaves lower. At the heart of the movement is the bandstand; a slow trio for brass alone, imitating a village band, where the cathedral tune is played straight and beautifully for eight bars before the scherzo crashes back over it, faster and more manic than before, and accelerates as far as the conductor dares.