Concert Band
S.P.Q.R.
Senatus Populusque Romanus (SPQR)
The Senate and People of Rome
The Senate and People of Rome
S.P.Q.R. (Senatus Populusque Romanus - the senate and people of Rome) was commissioned as part of the centenary celebrations of Warwickshire County Council, and the composer’s response was to delve even further back that a mere one hundred years, to encompass the Roman occupation of Britain which lasted for 350 years. One of the lasting monuments to this occupation is the amazing system of roads, one of which, the Fosse Way, crosses Warwickshire. S.P.Q.R. attempts to juxtapose and contrast the ancient and indissoluble links between rural and urban Warwickshire and the might of ancient Rome.
The first performance was given by the Warwickshire County Wind Band in Bedworth Civic Hall on 18th September 1988 under the direction of the composer.
I. Fosse Way
II. Notturno
III. Via Appia