The Leyburn Shawl: Sinfonia for Orchestra, by Stephen Gamble
- Rev Stephen Gamble
- Apr 23
- 1 min read
The Leyburn Shawl is a path that runs along the limestone escarpment just outside the North Yorkshire town of Leyburn. There’s an old story that Mary, Queen of Scots, escaping captivity in nearby Bolton Castle, dropped her shawl as she fled along the ridge pursued by soldiers on horseback guided by hounds. The music is not a retelling of the story, but it does perhaps have a feeling of the landscape and history of the place.
It was originally written for solo violin, then orchestrated back in 2018 using software that sounded like a worn out Hammond Organ pursued by croaky hounds. I now have better software so have had another go.
The Orchestra consists of pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoon, trumpets, horns, trombone, timpani and strings.
The sequence is - Introduzione - Andante lamentoso - Allegro con brio - A Tempo - Andante Cantabile - Jig (Allegro)
It's basically a jig with some prefatory remarks.
It is dedicated to the memory of my brother-in-law, Geoff Beasley. He was a true artist who taught me that creative activity is measured by integrity not popular acclaim. https://www.geoffreybeasley.com
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