A Gresford Chaconne

"A Gresford Chaconne" was commissioned by the Leaman Junior High Band, Amy Bennett, director, to celebrate the retirement of her colleague Ronnie Pruitt. Ronnie has two great passions in his life besides his family: music and sailing. As to his musical passions, he has had a distinguished career as a teacher, both as a high school and middle school director, and as assistant brass caption head with the Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps. In his role with the Blue Knights, he favored the Gresford Chorale as a warm up so this seemed a likely piece to set in his honor. As to the origins of the hymn tune, the Cantebury Dictionary of Hymnology states: "Gresford" is the name of a British hymn tune without words, to be played (usually by a brass band) while the congregation are silent in memory of a tragic event. It was written in the north-east of England in 1936 to commemorate the name of Gresford colliery at Wrexham North Wales, where there was a mining disaster in September 1934, when 266 miners were killed in an underground explosion. Setting this British hymn as a chaconne was an easy choice as the strophic nature of the hymn (to which lyrics were added in 1970 by George Lister) lends itself well to this form. It is also an homage to Gustav Holst, whose 1st Suite for Military Band begins with arguably one of the most famous chaconne settings in wind band literature. As to Ronnie’s other passion, I chose to make frequent nautical allusions, and even used brief musical quotes from select sea shanties.