War of the Worlds Adam Gorb

The inspiration for War of the Worlds came from the former Bromley resident, author, H. G. Wells. It is a large scale, 20 minute work in five clearly defined sections. A slow brooding opening with an atmosphere of suppressed menace is interrupted by a thematically significant distant solo Bass Trombone acting as a messenger from a far off place. Blind panic ensues culminating in a fearsome climax cut short by four off-stage Saxophones representing invading Martians. The saxophones issue a menacing repeated motif whilst gradually moving to their seats in the orchestra. A violent Allegro follows leading to a percussion dominated plateau infected by the saxophone theme, the whole eventually collapsing. The final section features a long impassioned human' oboe solo (interrupted by shrieks from the dying Martians') expressing a message of true hope and which increasingly finds warmer support from the ensemble. At the end of the work, the off-stage Bass Trombone returns and the mood darkens, the Martians may have been destroyed but what of the future? Not for the faint hearted either technically or emotionally!