The North Cheshire village of Alderley Edge is dominated by a 600 foot wooded escarpment (known locally as the Edge) where evocatively titled landmarks such as Wizard’s Well, Stormy Point and The Devil’s Grave have inspired storytellers for centuries.

This work presents a musical portayal of many of these sites and also recalls some of the legends which have arisen from them. In dealing with the subjects of the forest, myths and folklore, parallels with the German Romantic Opera tradition became apparent to me and it seemed appropriate to draw upon sources and in some cases the language of that particular period in music history. Hence the references to Weber’s masterpiece Der Freischütz and the ideas of a redemption theme and the triumph of good over evil. This latter notion also have has a resonance with the brassband test-piece tradition of Perccy Fletcher, Cyril Jenkins et al. It is therefore perhaps doubly fitting, as we approach the millenium, for a nostalgic reminder of both the ethos and style of this period in the development of the brassband repertoire.

The music itself could be considered to be a series of tone pictures. The Armada Beacon (the highest point on the Edge from where the advance of the Spanish Armada was signalled) presents some musical fireworks with a Spanish twist. The timeless nature of the ancient Golden Stone (reputed to have mythical properties) is evoked by a chaconne while the machine-like drive of the Engine Vein Mine is represented by a meccanio section. The Holy Well is outlined by the redemption theme (a pastiche aria) while in Stormy Point fragments of the Dies Irae can be heard against the brooding storm music. The Devil’s Grave (making reference to the Wolf’s Glen scene from Der Freischütz) completes the core of the work wich is framed by a Prologue and Epilogue.

The Prologue sets the forest scene in the offstage horn call which also makes reference to the most enduring of the legends of Alderley Edge. A subterranean cavern is said to house a sleeping army who will rise if ever the country is in peril. Entrance to the cavern is by way of iron gates which are hidden in the landscape. Locals have their own ideas of the whereabouts of the gates and it is said that music (the horn call) from the cavern can still be heard at nights. In true local tradition I have signposted the entrance with a melody woven into the fabric of one of the landmarks. The mystery continues!

Peter Graham, June 1997