Hummingbird (brass band version)

Notes

The original version of Hummingbird was commissioned by Finchley Children’s Music Group in summer 2020, for humming choir and body percussion. It was written during the Covid-19 pandemic at a time when choirs were allowed to meet, but not for open-mouthed singing, hence the humming. I was struck by how well the piece might work in brass band from, and made this version in November 2020. The extra volume and variety of sound offered by the brass instruments, and the translation of body percussion into a percussion section, gives this piece a wider dynamic and emotional range than the original, while preserving its mesmeric repetition and its sinuous themes that hint at the eastern Mediterranean.