Ray Farr

Viking Saga

'Viking Saga' was inspired by my conducting engagements in Norway in the 1980s. Among them was a visit to the Flekkefjord Pike Korps who asked me to write a piece for them. I had just written 'Adventures in Brass' which was very popular, particularly with younger bands, so I decided to pursue the creative energy. My teacher, at that time, was Professor Edward Gregson who encouraged me to develop my ideas into a full-scale work. The piece received a few performances in this version but neither I, nor my teacher, were satisfied so the manuscripts lay dormant. In the summer of 2002 a band from Switzerland- Cordula Brass Baden and Christoph Moor, who had played the piece under my direction in the Swiss National Youth Band, commissioned me to finish the work and make the changes that, I felt, were needed.

In 2016 the Tønsberg Wind Band, from Norway, commissioned a wind band version for their performance in the Norwegian Championships held in Trondheim 2017.