Chaucer’s Tunes (two sections of which began life in less extended form as theme music for a BBC radio series The Road to Canterbury) was originally written for wind band, commissioned by the British Association of Symphonic Bands and Wind Ensembles for its 1993 conference.
The work consists of six interconnected sections which can equally well be played as one complete continuous movement or as independent individual pieces (playing either ‘to continue’ of ‘to finish’ as appropriate).
The Intrada, for example, or Chauntecleer and the Fox (perhaps together with the Finale) would make effective concert openers of finishers, whilst other movements, such as the carol arrangement Es ist ein’ Ros’, may prove useful in a seasonal context.
The opening an closing sections were developed from a song for baritone voice and instrumental ensemble (including such instruments as alto trombone and handbells) with the 14th century text Of fantasy is all our fare / But make we merry and slay care / And each man cherish each others’ cheer.
The ensuing Fantasia follows Chaucer’s Prioress’s Tale in the story of the small boy who fell in love with the plainsong anthem Alma redemptoris mater and was taught the tune phrase by phrase, reflected in the canonic dialogue between principal cornet and euphonium in the first section; the fuller subsequent sections are lyrical and rumbustious by turn, celebrating further this attractive melody.
The Intermezzo The Wife of Bath is a playful and robust contrast, followed by an arrangement of the old German carol Es ist ein’ Ros’ entsprungen. The Chase (of the cock Chauntecleer by the fox, from Chaucer’s Nun’s Priest’s Tale) leads directly into the Finale, a telescoped version of the initial Intrada plus an extended coda.
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