13 The Three Fanfares of The Kingdom of God

Suite of Three Fanfares

Foreword

Suite of Three Fanfares was commissioned by Anthony Eddy and completed in 2016. Based on the Anthem of the King of Kings, the music of the first and third fanfares reemphasises the triplet motif found throughout the anthem and the first fanfare is designed to lead straight into the anthem itself.

The first fanfare, The Awakening, features a lone trumpet, the minister, calling out to his congregation. Slowly one by one they join in the calling until the entire ensemble reaches the fanfare section. The first sign of the triplet motif is written to show the contrasting sounds within the ensemble and also represents the diversity within the human race and often found within a church community.

The second fanfare, Reflections, should be considered a hybrid of a traditional hymn and a fanfare. The opening two bars came to me in 2008 when I was sitting in St Michaels Church in Christchurch during a service that my grandfather, Reverend Philip Baker was taking. This beautiful series of chords had stuck with me for many years, without ever finding an appropriate time or place to apply it to anything. Upon reading Anthony’s request for three fanfares I knew that this would be the perfect ‘slow’ movement in a series of fanfares and quickly wrote it onto paper, applying fanfare motifs within the deep harmonies, before finishing with a plagal cadence, a signature of the traditional hymn.

The third fanfare, Resolution, represents the congregation at the end of the service, grandly and majestically motivated by the good word that they have just received. The somewhat unusual or unexpected chord progression in the second bar is a demonstration of the challenges that a modern churchgoer faces on a daily basis, yet the music never loses it’s focus and direction. The triplet motif of the first movement reappears and once again ends with a plagal cadence, a salute to church music throughout the ages.

TW Baker Composer