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Perihelion was commissioned by the Cory Band as their own-choice piece for the 2013 European Brass Band Championships, held in Oslo, Norway. Winning the set piece section of the contest and coming second to Eikanger-Bjorsvik Musikklag with their own choice selection, Cory went on to become European Champions for the fifth time.Cory MD Philip Harper had asked for a ‘Concerto for Band’ to fully exploit his outstanding band of virtuosi, and composer Philip Sparke created a one-movement work with contiguous sections, first featuring horns and flugel, then trombones followed by cornets and a slower central section for percussion and baritones, euphonium andbasses.The piece is abstract in nature, without a specific programme, and the title merely reflects the fact that the piece was begun on January 2nd 2013, the day of Earth’s perihelion - the point in its orbit when it is closest to the sun. It could also be argued that the piece weaves between moments of brilliant optimism and dark shadow, both of which can be the result of bright sunshine.

This work is inspired by great explorers of the past, who ventured into unknown territories with courage and perseverance.

Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, and Abel Tasman—the first European to reach New Zealand—served as thematic and expressive sources of inspiration.

The composition is structured in several through-composed sections that flow seamlessly into one another. Each section represents a characteristic phase of the journey: from the charged departure, through alternating musical atmospheres and a build-up of tension that conveys the uncertainty and challenges along the way, to more expansive and triumphant passages in which discovery and victory are expressed musically.

Perihelion was commissioned by the Cory Band as their own-choice piece for the 2013 European Brass Band Championships, held in Oslo, Norway. Winning the set piece section of the contest and coming second to Eikanger-Bjorsvik Musikklag with their own choice selection, Cory went on to become European Champions for the fifth time.Cory MD Philip Harper had asked for a ‘Concerto for Band’ to fully exploit his outstanding band of virtuosi, and composer Philip Sparke created a one-movement work with contiguous sections, first featuring horns and flugel, then trombones followed by cornets and a slower central section for percussion and baritones, euphonium andbasses.The piece is abstract in nature, without a specific programme, and the title merely reflects the fact that the piece was begun on January 2nd 2013, the day of Earth’s perihelion - the point in its orbit when it is closest to the sun. It could also be argued that the piece weaves between moments of brilliant optimism and dark shadow, both of which can be the result of bright sunshine.

This work is inspired by great explorers of the past, who ventured into unknown territories with courage and perseverance.

Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, and Abel Tasman—the first European to reach New Zealand—served as thematic and expressive sources of inspiration.

The composition is structured in several through-composed sections that flow seamlessly into one another. Each section represents a characteristic phase of the journey: from the charged departure, through alternating musical atmospheres and a build-up of tension that conveys the uncertainty and challenges along the way, to more expansive and triumphant passages in which discovery and victory are expressed musically.