Keep the Faith

Written as both a remembrance of the composer's late mother and of the 100th Anniversary of World War I, Keep the Faith also accompanied Moina Mitchell's poem 'We Will Keep the Faith.'

Genre: Band | # of Players: Standard
Level: 3 | Duration: 5:05

Instrumentation
Piccolo
Flute 1
Flute 2
Oboe 1 & 2
B-flat Clarinet 1
B-flat Clarinet 2
B-flat Clarinet 3
B-flat Bass Clarinet
Bassoon
Alto Saxophone 1 & 2
Tenor Saxophone
Baritone Saxophone

B-flat Cornet 1
B-flat Cornet 2
B-flat Cornet 3
Horn in F 1 & 2
Horn in F 3 & 4
Trombone 1
Trombone 2
Trombone 3
Euphonium
Tuba

Percussion 1(Timpani)
Percussion 2 (Snare Drum)
Percussion 3 (Cymbals)

Program Notes
Keep the Faith originally started as a personal tribute to my late mother. Not long after writing the opening ideas I was approached to write music to accompany a rendition of the poem "We Will Keep the Faith" by Moina Michael for performance as part of the 100th Anniversary of the start og World War I. The appropriateness of the music already written and the sentiment behind both concepts was a coincidence too good to overlook. Rarely sentimental and always practical I feel sure my mum would be delighted that the music she originally inspired was being used to portray a much wider universal message of remembrance.

Whether performed with or without the poem a fully sustained sound should always be aimed for. The 'bugle' call at bar 20 and again at bar 76 should reflect a distant call across the trenches, the cornet remaining prominent over the upper woodwind. The tempo indication is a guide only and allowance must be made for the acoustic in which the piece is performed. The music must always flow, but appropriate rubato should be freely used together with appropriate tenuto in the middle of phrases.

- Duncan Stubbs