Performed in the final of the English Schools' Orchestra's 2016 Composition Competition by the English Young Artists Sinfonia after just a few hours of rehearsal - these guys are fantastic!

I ended up winning the competition, though the other 2 finalists' pieces were fantastic and full of things to learn from. See my handwritten manuscript here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWHFfRGqZUg

Programme Notes:

The setting for this piece is the circus after the audience and performers have gone home, where the circus props come to life and have a party. There are juggling batons, a unicycle, an elephant, a trapeze, and much more. The piece is light-hearted, fun, and humorous with amusing melodies, vibrant splashes of colour, and a wide variety of complex textures and moods.

Most of the music is derived from the opening of the melody – the repetition of a grinding suspension which is eventually resolved. The other themes and phrases all spring from this, giving it a sense of unity with the textures varying widely around the them. The melodies are harmonically driven using jazz improvisation-influenced shapes, giving a sense of flow and direction.
 
Overall, this piece seeks to bring a smile to your face. Do not be afraid to laugh at the elephant stumbling around having had a few too many, or the flaming hoops playing drinking games with the throwing knives!

Enjoy :)

You can see a timelapse of me engraving it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkxb_OIq4Z4

Seb Skelly