THE legend of the giant of Penhill in the Yorkshire Dales will be retold in a new orchestral piece for children receiving its premiere in Skipton Town Hall this October.

Thanks to funding from the Tarn Moor Estate, acclaimed Irish composer Geoff Hannan and Yorkshire-based writer Sally Edwards were asked by Skipton Camerata, North Yorkshire's only professional orchestra, to create a new work along the lines of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf.

The result is The Penhill Giant which will be performed twice on the same day, first to school pupils and then in a public family concert. Both concerts will also include The Sorcerer's Apprentice, made famous by Mickey Mouse in Disney's Fantasia.

Geoff Hannan says he jumped at the opportunity to compose the new piece. Like Peter and the Wolf, it is written for narrator and small orchestra. But instead of the forests of the Russian steppes, The Penhill Giant is set in the Dales and based on the legend of Gunda and the Giant.

Geoff said:“Sally’s brilliant script inspired me to compose the music in just nine days, and I had great fun with the musical characterisations.”

The Penhill Giant is an engaging piece which draws young listeners into both the story and into the world of orchestral music.

“I hope I’ve brought the concept of narrator and orchestra into the 21st century with what I’ve written,” added Geoff. “There are certainly sounds in The Penhill Giant that you don’t hear in the Prokofiev. There will be a lot of noise."

Conductor Ben Crick and Skipton Camerata have been putting on concerts to schools for many years. Pupils from five primary schools in Skipton will gather for this year's lunchtime performance in the Town Hall. The public tea-time family concert, however, is a new departure.

Ben said, "This is the perfect concert to introduce young people to orchestral music - and old people for that matter. Geoff's and Sally's new piece is so accessible. And of course everyone knows The Sorcerer's Apprentice. It'll be a fun event whatever age you are."

The public concert featuring Geoff Hannan's The Penhill Giant and music by Tchaikovsky and Dukas is at 4.15 pm on Wednesday October 11.

Tickets are available from Skipton Town Hall, in person or online at: https://skiptontownhall.co.uk/