Bravada (Paso Doble) Frederic Ernest Curzon

Vergriffen (Restexemplare bei uns noch lieferbar!) / Permanently out of Print (we still sell our remaining stock)

Boosey & Hawkes Military Band Edition, No. 99

This is one of light music's true gems. Full of vivacity, sunshine and sheer optimism, this is music to remind the listener of their last holiday in Spain or to encourage them to make speedy return to the Costa Brava or the Costa del Sol. Remarkably, Bravada was composed in 1938 at a time when few people would have been considering a holiday in Sunny Spain: it was the height of the Spanish Civil war (1936-39).

This music clearly is meant to be pastiche. It makes use of a number of clichés' from Spain and moulds them into a satisfying miniature. No piece of Iberian music can be complete without the Spanish solo trumpet and the castanets. However, Curzon also makes imaginative use of syncopation and some wayward modulations in what is really a classic paso doble which is traditionally written in duple time. As a dance it is meant to parody a bull-fight.

Bravada was dedicated to Curzon's friend and colleague Frederic Bayco (1913-70). Bayco was a cinema organist, composer and was a powerful promoter of Curzon's music. Curzon never actually visited Spain.

Besetzungsliste / Instrumentation:

Condensed Score
D-flat Flute
Flute I-II-III
Oboe
Bassoon I-II
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet Solo-I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Bass Saxophone (B-flat Contrabass Clarinet)
B-flat Cornet Solo-I-II
B-flat Trumpet Solo
Flugelhorn I-II
E-flat Horn or Alto I-II-III-IV
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Percussion