A Gresford Chaconne

by David Campo

3'30" / 2022 

“A Gresford Chaconne” was commissioned by the Leaman Junior High Band, Amy Bennett, director, to celebrate the retirement of her colleague Ronnie Pruitt. According to the Cantebury Dictionary of Hymnology, “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 for the composer 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. The maturity of the formal setting and harmonic language of  “A Gresford Chaccone” belie its imminent playability;  the work is well within the abilities of a younger band.