the padstow lifeboat details

When was The Padstow Lifeboat created?

1967

Who created The Padstow Lifebaot?

Malcolm Arnold

What Op. is the Padstow Lifeboat?

94

Who arranged The Padstow Lifeboat for concert band?

Ray Woodfield

When and where did the actual premiere of The Padstow Lifeboat take place?

June 10, 1967, during the BBC International Festival of Light Music.

Which two brass bands performed at the actual premiere on June 10, 1967?

The Black Dyke Mills Band

The BMC (British Motor Corporation) Band

(Conducted by Malcolm Arnold)

When did the Padstow dedication/inaugural performance take place?

July 19, 1968 (about a year after the actual premiere).

Which ensemble performed The Padstow Lifeboat at the 1968 Padstow inaugural ceremony?

The St. Dennis Silver Band (also conducted by Arnold).

What are the three different ensemble arrangements of The Padstow Lifeboat?

1. Brass band (the original scoring)

2. Concert band

3. Orchestra

What is the specific opus number used for the orchestral version of the march?

Opus 94a

What structural form do all three versions of The Padstow Lifeboat share?

The multithematic form ("march" form also common in ragtime).

What term do band musicians use to refer to the multiple melodies in a march form?

Strains

What arrangement does our listening example feature

Concert-band

How are the strains usually performed in a traditional march form?

Each strain is customarily repeated, often with different instrumentation or a countermelody the second time.

What specific orchestration detail does Arnold add during the repetition of the B strain?

He asks the high woodwinds to play a countermelody.

What are the two nicknames for a loud, aggressive march section that often features call-and-response?

Break-strain or "dog-fight" (which describes Arnold's stormy C melody).

What is the term for repeating a strain louder and more slowly near the end of a piece for an expressive, grand effect?

Grandioso

How does Arnold incorporate the "grandioso" feature into The Padstow Lifeboat?

He uses it as the coda, which features a third appearance of the B melody.

What is the nickname for the loud, staccato, accented note or chord played by the full ensemble at the very end of a march?

A "stinger" (which The Padstow Lifeboat uses for its conclusion).

Why is The Padstow Lifeboat considered an atypical march right from the beginning?

The brisk, syncopated opening rhythm is repeatedly interrupted by a fortissimo blast from the horns.

What specific out-of-key pitch do the horns blare during the opening interruptions?

D natural

What is the tonic (home) key of The Padstow Lifeboat?

"A" flat major, D natural DOES NOT belong to the key

What happens to the band's brisk melody after the first horn interruption?

It re-enters a step lower, but is quickly interrupted by the blast again.

Why is The Padstow Lifeboat considered a programmatic work?

Because the music tells a specific story / depicts a real-world object: the fortissimo blasts represent a lighthouse foghorn.

Which specific lighthouse foghorn inspired the interruptions in the march?

The Trevose Head lighthouse foghorn, which Arnold heard frequently while living in Cornwall.

What pitch did the real Trevose Head foghorn make, according to Arnold?

It wasn't fixed; it wandered "between Middle C and D."

Why did Arnold keep the foghorn pitch as a constant D natural throughout the piece?

As he noted in the score, it was kept the same "for the sake of musical unity."

What musical techniques does Arnold use in the break-strain to portray a turbulent sea?

Rapid chromatic scales and glissandos (resembling churning waves).

Long crescendos on the cymbals.

What real-world event do biographers believe The Padstow Lifeboat is depicting?

A dramatic rescue performed by the Padstow lifeboat during a severe storm on November 23, 1965.

What award did the lifeboat's leader ("coxswain") receive for his bravery during the 1965 rescue?

A silver medal.

Lifeboat's leader

Coxswain

Malcolm Arnold's favorite brass and band piece:

The Padstow Lifeboat (according to a 1984 interview)