Paradise Lost (Tenor Horn Solo), David Harrington . Brass Band.

Paradise Lost (Tenor Horn Solo), David Harrington . Brass Band.

A work alluding to the allure and multi-dimensional concept of a 'paradise' - the work aims to pit the solo horn against a backdrop of enveloping unknown beauty, exploring the primal, yet magnificent serenity of a garden bearing timeless prosperity.

The horn solo explores this landscape - an intoxicating garden - with caution, nervously treading in a world of the exotic and the forbidden (Introduction). The character is shortly swamped in a lavish, walled paradise - a mirror image of misery and chaos, and freely enjoys the fruits and splendour of the garden (Scherzo). Eventually, the paradise shows its reversed side, and a poison seeps into the air. The joy and indulgence is cut short as the character bites from the tree of knowledge and is banished from the garden eternally.

A soliloquy, slow movement, follows which allows the horn to reflect and question his decisions, and he laments over what paradise he really seeks (Romance).
After a dramatic and romantic climax, the music descends back into a darker chaos - a more brutal version of the lively scherzo, this time in the form of an impending march. The character is suggested to be now lost in a hellish world as punishment for his greediness (Toccata).

As the vibrant toccata refers back to the reflective material, the character then begins to understand where true paradise lies, and after reminiscing the romantic melodies from the centre of the work he rockets out of the fires of hell (Finale) and discovers true euphoria in a world outside the gates of hell and paradise.