Here at last is my ’’Elegy sentimentale’’ for orchestra, and my first original composition (opus 1), for full symphony orchestra.

I hope it makes an excellent piece for amateur and professional orchestras alike; with some challenging and interesting string, woodwind and brass writing for all.

I envisage the ’’Elegy’’ eventually making a good piece of film music, and in consequence any directors or producers looking for a movie theme; please feel free to contact me!

Elegy Sentimenatle is a mournful & melancholic work, suited for performances on the concert platform.

A Supreme Work of Art!

The Elegy Sentimentale opens impressively. Keith Terrett plants a C deep in virgin soil; orchestrated brilliantly for bassoon, harp and delineated by pizzicato double basses this bass line is a tree of a forest; and we are at once held by the strength of the roots. The tonality is immediately clear, and there is a grand feeling of space and power in the wide layout of the score. A lone solo clarinet high in the tessitura accompanied by a solo cello with a counter subject state the opening eight bar theme which embodies the seeds of two ideas, which supplies the generating force for the slightly agitated Piu Mosso which follows. The counter subject given by the solo cello at the beginning is now reiterated by the plaintive voice of a solo oboe and a third motif makes an appearance in the solo clarinet; oboe and clarinet duet beautifully over arpeggiated rhythmic impulses in the harp. A new subject of an accompanying nature, derived from all the material thus far presented now comes off at a tangent on the strings cascading downwards and accompanying woodwind who, play the chief melodic subject while horns cry in anguish. This first section is then repeated; I found the whole experience spiritual, detached and wondering, intensified by the breath-taking stillness. Mr Terrett in the middle section that follows now uses his full orchestral forces; after a key change the emotional charge that follows is cataclysmic in its cry of anguish; the main theme is stated in a full dress orchestral tutti, which is then repeated. The music ebbs and flows with slight variations in the woodwind recalling the main ideas; at the very end high strings bring consolation and finally peace. Keith Terrett shows an admirable command of orchestration and melodic construction and combines these qualities with rare imagination and insight.

Gerald Manning Former Violist BBC Symphony Orchestra