A short clip of TATA playing Jingle Bells at its first concert since Covid

TATA Brass Band (Port Talbot) - Jingle Bells

COMPUTER REALISATION

The inspiration for this piece arose from a charming anecdote about Edward Elgar and his friend, Arthur Troyte Griffith, who would playfully trace their lineages back to legendary figures - Elgar to the exiled Saxon noble Aelfgar (whose name translates as “Spear of the Elves”), and Griffith to the Welsh king Gruffydd ap Llewellyn.

Drawing on thematic material from Elgar’s Enigma Variations, the work imagines key episodes from Aelfgar’s dramatic life. Aelfgar, son of Lady Godiva and Leofric, Earl of Mercia, was exiled to Ireland after a disputed claim to the Earldom of East Anglia. He later returned to Britain, forging an alliance with Gruffydd—who had married Aelfgar’s daughter Ealdgyth (following Gruffydd’s death, she married the ill-fated King Harold) - and together they launched a brutal campaign culminating in the defeat of Ralph the Timid and the sacking of Hereford. This victory restored Aelfgar to his title.

The piece opens in the grandeur of Aelfgar’s court, just before his fateful appearance before the Magnum Concilium (Grand Council). This leads into musical portrayals of his exile in Ireland and his journey home—marked by a reference to Mendelssohn’s Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage, echoing Elgar’s own quotation of the piece. A martial section follows, depicting the march on Hereford, and the work concludes with the climactic Battle of Hereford.

Aelfgar - Spear of the Elves

installation for computer-controlled organ pipes and balloons
2025
video: https://youtu.be/d3IoL6UcXcg?si=yyJvz7QVsqTNrrby

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