Egmont is a set of incidental music pieces for the 1787 play of the same name by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, composed by Ludwig van Beethoven.
The incidental music for Egmont consists of an overture followed by a sequence of nine pieces for soprano, male narrator, and full symphony orchestra. The male narrator is optional. Beethoven wrote the music between October 1809 and June 1810. The work premiered in June 1810. The subject of the music and dramatic narrative is the life and heroism of 16th-century nobleman Lamoral, Count of Egmont from the Low Countries. It was composed during the Napoleonic Wars when the First French Empire had extended its domination over vast swaths of Europe. Beethoven had famously expressed his great outrage over Napoleon's decision to crown himself emperor in 1804, furiously scratching out his name in the dedication of the Eroica Symphony. In the music for Egmont, Beethoven expressed his own political concerns through the exaltation of the heroic sacrifice of a man condemned to death for having taken a valiant stand against oppression. The overture became an unofficial anthem of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. The overture is powerful and expressive, one of the last works of Beethoven's middle period and possesses a style similar to the Fifth Symphony, which the composer completed two years earlier. The Hungarian film Overture by János Vadász, which won the 1965 Cannes Film Festival's Short Film Palme d'Or, uses the complete overture as the soundtrack for a series of images featuring a hatching bird. The sequence was described as among the most ingenious pairings of music and image in the history of the festival.
Jock McKenzie studied trumpet at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester where he was a joint recipient of the college’s concerto prize. From 1987 Jock based his musical career in Hampshire, working as a freelance trumpeter, conductor, composer, arranger and brass teacher. Jock is a former Professional Leader (Brass) for Hampshire Music Service and was the Director of the Hampshire County Youth Band from 2004 until 2020. It is the mix of all of these musical roles that has led to Jock establishing a reputation as a leading creator of brass music resources, particularly in the field of education and brass ensemble music. In 2020 Jock was awarded an “Honorary Fellowship of the University of Winchester” for services to music education. Currently Jock is working part-time for the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama; providing tuition for their Brass Teaching Module. In 2024 Jock was given the award for “Services to Youth” by Brass Bands England.
