Dedicated to His Majesty King Edward VII, this composition was performed for the first time on June 15, 1903 in England by the Municipal Wind Band of Rome, conducted by the composer, in the great hall “San Giorgio” of Windsor Castle in the presence of the royal family. The rhapsody is composed for a mid-sized wind band (54 performers), which corresponds to the instrumentation of Vessella’s Italian reform. Britannia consists mainly of three thematic elements: one with a typically lyrical character, one cheerful and extremely rhythmic, and the third, a grandiose and concluding chorale. In this rhapsody one appreciates a great compositional consistency, which is the result of extreme technical mastery and refined skills, as well as Vessella’s ability to combine in all thematic elements an esthetic taste typical of the Anglo-Saxon music tradition.

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