New music to celebrate Concorde 216
A brand new music composition inspired by Concorde’s final flight has been performed in the Brabazon Hangar by Liz Lane and members of the Lydbrook Band.
A preview of Innovation 216 was performed on 14th September 2016 in the historic Brabazon Hangar
‘Innovation 216’, by Gloucestershire composer Liz Lane, is a celebration of the beauty of flight, specifically through aspects of Bristol’s aeronautical history. From the earliest Bristol Boxkite Biplane to the Blenheim Light Bomber, the Brabazon and Britannia, and of course Concorde, the piece ends with a section imagining something of the future of the aerospace industry and includes quotes from present and past workers and academics.
The music, which also marks the Royal Aeronautical Society's 150th anniversary, takes in the sounds of the materials used to build planes over the centuries; in particular the wood of the early planes, progressing to metal, engines and take off, and Concorde flying high as a bird. There’s a nod to Concorde’s famous ‘sonic boom,’ and the piece cleverly utilises musical motifs at the beginning and end based around the notes B A C (Bristol Aeroplane Company, Bristol Aero Collection…).
The work was commissioned for the ‘Bristol800’ weekender programme and forms the grand finale of St George’s Bristol’s own aeronautical series, ‘The Art of Flight’. The world premiere performance, which takes place at the Great George Street music venue on Sunday 27 November 2016, will feature massed bands and choirs formed of groups from across the region. They include musicians from Lydbrook Band, Lydbrook Training Band, Lydney Training Band and City of Bristol Training Band, plus singers from Bristol’s popular Gurt Lush Choir and the UWE Singers.
‘The Art of Flight’, sponsored by Airbus, GKN and Rolls-Royce, has seen concerts and special events at St George’s throughout 2016, with more to come ahead of the November finale. These include concerts by Brodsky Quartet (27 Sept) and Exultate Singers (15 Oct), another World Premiere (by composer Graham Fitkin, 25 Nov), a ‘Family Flight Day’ (27 Nov) and a fantastic exhibition of aviation art by Swindon-based artist David Bent (from 1 Nov).
Liz’s music is named after the call sign of Filton’s very own Concorde 216, which is shortly to have a new home at Aerospace Bristol. Due to open in summer 2017, the new £19m museum will bring together nationally-significant exhibits and hidden archive records to tell over 100 years of fascinating history for the very first time. The show-stopping centrepiece will be Concorde 216. Designed, built and tested in Bristol, she was the final Concorde to be built and the last to fly.
Tickets for the premiere of ‘Innovation 216’ are available from the St George’s Bristol box office.
Composer Liz Lane and members of the Lydbrook Band