ECWO 2018

MUTATIONS by Bart Picqueur

Bart Picqueur wrote the piece at the request of Louis Martinus who wanted an original work for a new CD by the Royal Band of the Belgian guides. The inspiration for the work was drawn from two beautiful pieces of wind band music, The Danse Funambulesque  by Jules Strens and Dionysiaque by Florent Schmitt. The result is an accessible contemporary work for concert band. It’s a pragmatic work based on a consistent 4-notes motif, which –as the title suggests– evolves trough the piece. The entire piece forms a diptych, a mysterious lento including a flute solo and a virtuoso dance with a certain groove. The clarinet binds the two parts, in a cadenza in which it shows it’s whole musical range.

Bart Picqueur dedicated the work to his colleagues Louis Martinus and Hardy Mertens because he admires the way in which they continually strive not to give in to the commercial flow. He’s thoroughly convinced that their determination will triumph in the end. Therefore he gave Mutations the fitting subtitle ‘The survival of the fittest’, based on Charles Darwin’s theories of evolution.