1868, Op. 31

Instrumentation: Band | Duration: 14’ | Level: Medium-Advanced | Year: 2018 Program Note: This piece was commissioned by the Banda Marcial de Fermentelos on the occasion of its 150th anniversary. Inspired by the spirit of opera overture transcriptions and symphonic movements that shaped the band repertoire of the Romantic period — precisely the time of the BMF’s founding — this work evokes the textures and orchestral colours of composers such as Rimsky-Korsakov, Liszt, Wagner, and Bruckner. A reference to Tchaikovsky is inevitable, not only for his musical language but also for the idea behind the title, recalling the famous 1812 Overture, a regular presence in the archives of Northern Portuguese bands.