Swing 2020

symphony orchestra & chorus  

​

Swing was initially commissioned by Ellen Whittle for the East London Community Band to celebrate Bob Whittle’s 80th birthday. It was premiered by the ensemble conducted by Matthew Hardy at The Octagon, Queen Mary University on March 6th, 2022, as part of the Contemporary Music Festival for All. The extended version for symphony orchestra was commissioned for the Devon Philharmonic Orchestra, and first performed by the orchestra on 19th Nov at Exeter Cathedral conducted by the composer.

​

Duration

9'00'' 

​

Scoring

3(picc.,a.fl),2,Cor.,3,b.cl.,2. | 4,3,3,1. | timp., 3 perc. | pno, hp, t.bnjo | strings

​

Programme Note 

Swing is technically a “mash-up”, a term usually used in popular music to describe when two recordings are combined in some way. In this case, the composition begins

with several re-harmonisations of the African-American Spiritual Swing Low Sweet Chariot by William Wallis. This gives way to a fast jazz swing section, where the melody of Sweet Chariot gradually evolves into Duke Ellington’s It Don’t Mean a Thing (if it ain’t got that Swing). This composition was originally commissioned by Ellen Whittle for the East London Community Band to celebrate Bob Whittle’s 80th birthday. The Devon Philharmonic is giving the world premiere of the extended version for symphony orchestra. 

​

Availability 

This work is available to hire. Please get in touch to find out more. 

​

Perusal Score

Please note that this music is in copyright and it is illegal to copy or perform from the perusal score. 

​