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Commissioned by Hamilton District Arts Guild, this piece is based on the life of Alexander 10th Duke of Hamilton. The nickname given to him by the people of Hamilton was "Il Magnifico" a reflection of the grandiose schemes he had in his life and also those he planned for his death...
His most impressive relic is the massive Mausoleum in Strathclyde Park where he planned to lie embalmed amongst his ancestors, amid the prayers of his worshipping descendants.
This is where the sextet begins. An opening theme on the clarinet, veiled in echoes, suggests the deserted, somewhat eerie chapel.
Eventually the piano breaks through this reflective mood to introduce a stately, even pompous march - the outward trappings of a self-important man. This theme and the opening one are to return in many varied forms and between them they provide all the thematic material for what follows.
Among the many important guests at the Duke's Palace was Frederic Chopin and a somewhat distorted version of his Funeral March appears in this section, a seemingly apt quotation in a piece centring round a man so pre-occupied with the after-life.
The Alla Marcia leads without a break into a slow Chaconne. The formality of this, built on a constantly recurring bass figure, reflects both the classical severity of the Mausoleum and the sombre pomp of the Duke's funeral cortege.
A rhapsodic section follows portraying a little of the man himself, moving from a strong declamatory opening to a more brooding mood, and this in turn leads to a vigorous finale depicting, through a set of variations, the Mausoleum as it stands today amid the pleasures of Strathclyde Park. Here people are playful or lazy, solitary or amorous. Into this casual atmosphere strides once again the Ducal March, but, like the grandeur of Il Magnifico's dreams and treasures, it is doomed to fade and die.
Sic transit gloria mundi ! |
