Composer Jack Bewley isn't pulling any punches with his latest creation.
'Apokalypsis' is what it says on the label: a 23-minute work inspired by biblical accounts of the end of the world.
It had its world premiere at the National Brass Band Championships in Christchurch last month, performed by the eventual champion band Wellington Brass. And it would be fair to say it sent most of the audience into a rapturous state.
Yet the story of how Wellington Brass ended up performing such an ambitious work at the championships is a bit more prosaic.
Speaking to RNZ Concert, Bewley says he's long been a fan of the epic requiem masses of the likes of Verdi, or Karl Jenkins' "A Mass for Peace", but asking a brass band to accompany a mass for over an hour is asking a lot of "the players' chops".
By that, Bewley means the lip-work that players have to engage to produce the embouchure (non-brass players would call it a 'raspberry' noise) that enables them to create a note through their instrument's mouthpiece.
If players run out "chops", there's no sound.
So instead, Bewley began thinking about a purely instrumental work of less than half an hour. And when Wellington Brass began looking for an original work to showcase at this year's band championships, he suggested Apokalypsis might fit the bill.
Getting a practice in before the End of Days. Photo: Supplied
Bewley, who plays the baritone horn with the band, says the early rehearsals were a bit nerve-wracking but he could see the work was winning his fellow musicians over.
His score certainly puts the players through the ringer, with numerous solos (it was written to be played at the band competition, after all) and dramatic changes in mood, from extremely loud to deathly quiet.
At one point, Bewley even asks members of the band to sing.
Composer and baritone horn player, Jack Bewley. Photo: Supplied / Jack Bewley
However, it all seems to have paid off, with the work earning a standing ovation, and an MC who's almost lost for words (if you listen to the end of the video of the performance above).
And Bewley's own view of the end of days?
He's keeping that close to his chest.
The work hints at a hopeful end for humanity, he says, but then maybe that's just the hope we humans feel obliged to hold on to in the present.
One thing is certain, the Apocalypse as imagined by Jack Bewley is one hell of a ride.
