COMPOSER : Alex McGee

Scramble was composed for Kidlington Concert Brass to be performed as part of their 2022 series of events.

A solo cornet feature, the principal cornet needs his or her wits about them as they take to the skies, musically speaking in their Spitfire.

The work was inspired by the history of what is now Oxford Airport, but was in a previous life RAF Kidlington.

During WWII numerous squadrons were based there as forward operating Spitfires were a staple of the bases arsenal.

Scramble is told from the perspective of a young pilot, a begins with him in a troubled sleep, which is shattered by the wail of an air raid siren.

From that point we rushed to his aircraft and races into the skies to defend the United Kingdom as one of ‘the few’ who prevented the risk of invasion during the legendary Battle of Britain.

This work is dedicated to all those, in the air and on the ground, and of all nationalities who served in the Battle of Britain.