English Choral Music - A Garland for the Queen (1953)

For the second time in recent weeks I have been a little disappointed when a CD arrived on my doorstep. I had glanced at the title of this present offering and was delighted to see that a new recording of A Garland for the Queen was on offer. However, it is in fact a re-issue of an old Gamut CD from the early nineteen-nineties. There is nothing wrong with programme, the performance or the sound quality, however it may catch a few people out. The presentation of the disc and the liner-notes is totally different. The clue, I guess is in the record label – HERITAGE: this suggests old material, re-presented. However, if the CD is sealed, there is nothing to tell the potential purchaser that it is a re-release.

I have long been an enthusiast of A Garland for the Queen, in spite of the fact that it is conventionally regarded as being a generically substandard work from its ‘composer collective’. Perhaps this view is best summed up by Felix Aprahamian writing in the Sunday Times (7 June 1953) ‘Ten distinguished native composers contributing ... have shown happier discrimination in their choice of notes .... those with the best chance of survival are ... the more ... harmonically harmless settings by Bax, Ireland and Vaughan Williams.’

The Garland was commissioned by the Arts Council of Great Britain, to celebrate the Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth in 1953. One wonders if that ‘quango’ would be active in anything so ‘establishment’ in our age? The ten poets and ten composers were bidden to create settings for mixed voices. The idea was to craft a 20th century ‘replica’ of the famous The Triumphs of Oriana (1601) which was presented to Queen Elizabeth I. The present series of songs is not a parody of the earlier cycle but it is certainly influenced by it. The madrigal is a creative inspiration for both of these composite pieces.

Interestingly, there is another exemplar, which did not have such an influence and that was the Choral Songs in Honour of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, which were published in 1899 to celebrate that Queen’s eightieth birthday.

Nigel Dodd, writing in the liner-notes for the competing Priory recording of this work suggests that although, ‘the content of many of the poems is forward-looking, the style of several of the songs [music] is much more conservative.’ It is a good summary of the overall effect of this work.

All of these ten songs offer challenges to the singers. The most straightforward would appear to be those by Arnold Bax, Ralph Vaughan Williams and John Ireland. Arthur Bliss has created an appropriately fresh opening number with his ‘Aubade’, whilst the deeper sentiment of Edmund Rubbra’s ‘Salutation’ brings the sequence to a fitting conclusion. Listeners may detect the influence of Henry Purcell in Michael Tippett’s offering, ‘Dance, Clarion Air’. I believe that Lennox Berkeley’s ‘Spring at this Hour’ and Herbert Howells’ ‘Inheritance’ are the most complex from a harmonic point of view. Finzi’s contribution is well summed up by Ivor Keys: “Now the white-flowering days, the long days of blue and golden light, wake nature’s music round the land’, and Finzi is the man to fit the words not only technically like a glove, but in mood, enlivened by some quintuple rhythm and surprising modulation, of mellowed rejoicing in ‘Old England of the Shires.’” Finally, Alan Rawsthorne’s ‘Canzonet’ to words by Louis MacNeice is the most challenging and forward-looking of all these songs.

My personal favourite is John Ireland’s gorgeous ‘The Hills’ to a text by James Kirkup. This has convincingly survived the ‘changes and chances’ of the succeeding 58 years.

One of the most fascinating exercises when considering the ‘Garland’ is to wonder at who was ‘missed out’. Why no contribution from Malcolm Arnold, William Alwyn, Benjamin Britten, Armstrong Gibbs, John Gardner, Elizabeth Maconchy, and William Walton ... the listener can add their own? Maybe some were asked and refused? It may be a tale waiting to be told.

Finally, out of interest the poets are Henry Reed, Clifford Bax, Christopher Fry, Ursula Wood, Paul Dehn, James Kirkup, Walter de la Mare, Edmund Blunden, Louis MacNeice and Christopher Hassall respectively. This information is given in the liner-notes, but not in the track-listings.

Ad majorem Dei gloriam was one of the first works that Benjamin Britten began after arriving in America in June 1939. It is a setting of seven of Gerard Manley Hopkins’s poems and was composed during August of that year. It was dedicated to Peter Pears and his Round Table Singers. Due to the outbreak of the Second World War, the premiere was abandoned, and the work was laid aside. After Britten’s death in 1976, the score was returned to Aldeburgh and was finally performed in 1984.

The seven poems set by Britten are Prayer I (‘Jesus that dost in Mary Dwell’), ‘Rosa Mystica', ‘God’s Grandeur', Prayer II (‘Thee God, I come from, to thee I go’), ‘O Deus, ego amo te’, ‘The Soldier’ and ‘Heaven-Haven’.

The music is in a trajectory from A Boy Was Born, although Britten balances the complexity of his setting of ‘God’s Grandeur’ with a much simpler texture in ‘Heaven-haven’ and ‘Thee God, I come from, to thee I go’. However, the entire set is demanding for singers: the sheer variety of the texture, the considerable vocal range and the complex rhythms make it a virtuosic tour de force.

I have never really got my head around Britten’s Sacred and Profane. For some reason, it just does not ‘do’ for me. However I recognise that it is a great work that deserves its place in the repertoire. Its technical difficulty precludes it being regularly performed. Sacred and Profane was dedicated to the Wilbye Consort and was duly given its first performance at Aldeburgh on 14 September 1975, which was the year before the composer’s death. The programme notes rightly point out that this is a ‘cyclic’ setting of eight medieval lyrics. The corollary of this is that they have to be performed as a whole and cannot, with any artistic justification, be excerpted.

This is a virtuosic piece that challenges performers to the limit. The five-part chorus explores a wide variety of moods and emotions and melodic and harmonic devices. The work is a contrast between the sacred and secular and musically between consonance and strikingly effective dissonances. However, these distinctions are often blurred. I suggest that any listener discover the texts and read them before listening as without them the words are barely understandable to any but a medieval scholar. They can be found in the liner-notes for the competing Chandos recording webpage.

I was disappointed that Heritage did not print the texts of these works: they were given in the 1991 edition of this recording, so it cannot be a copyright issue. Secondly the liner-notes have been ‘dumbed down’ with a few ‘adequate’ notes by an anonymous author replacing an excellent and highly informative essay on the ‘Garland’ by Clive Bartlett. The notes about the choir have contracted and have not been rewritten, in spite of the fact that twenty years have elapsed since it was originally penned. Even the director of music has curtailed his name from Timothy to Tim!

However, this being said, the quality of the performance is second to none, the Cambridge University Chamber Choir being capable of dealing with the various styles and complexities of the programme.

Tracklisting:-

A Garland for the Queen (1953) Arthur BLISS (1891-1975) Aubade for Coronation Morning Arnold BAX (1883-1953) What is it like to be young and fair? Michael TIPPETT (1905-1998) Dance, Clarion Air Ralph VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (1872-1958) Silence and Music Lennox BERKELEY (1903-1989) Spring at this hour John IRELAND (1879-1962) The Hills Herbert HOWELLS (1892-1983) Inheritance Gerald FINZI (1901-1956) White-flowering days Op. 37 Alan RAWSTHORNE (1905-1971) Canzonet Edmund RUBBRA (1901-1986) Salutation Benjamin BRITTEN (1913-1976) A.M.D.G (1939) Sacred and Profane, Op. 91 (1975) Cambridge University Chamber Choir/Timothy Brown

HERITAGE HTGCD213

With thanks to MusicWeb International where this review was first published.

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The Golden Age of Light Music: Confetti on Guild

The liner-notes give a very good description of what this CD is all about: it is worth quoting: ‘The word ‘confetti’ describes small pieces of paper, of various shapes and colours, often thrown by guests at weddings. In musical terms it can equally apply to an assortment of pieces in different styles, conveying a variety of moods and emotions. In other words, almost a haphazard collection of tunes with no particular theme, except perhaps that they are all a little different.’

One of the delights of the Golden Age of Light Music series is the fact that the compilers have endeavoured to ‘theme’ each successive release. Inevitably, they came across many pieces of music that did not quite ‘fit’ with the chosen topics. Yet it would have been a pity to have ignored these numbers, so Confetti, like Kaleidoscope before it, aims to ‘sweep up’ some of these ‘lost’ works. It is a job well done.

This is not music that needs to be analysed: its raison d’être is simply to be enjoyed. However there is an interesting balance between composers who are well-known to the average listener and those that are only celebrated by the light music specialist or enthusiast. One surprise is Market Day by Wilfred Josephs, a composer who is perhaps better known for his concert, film and television scores. Yet this jolly piece from the late fifties, is both enjoyable and well-wrought: it certainly succeeds in providing a good mental image of its subject.

Other big names include Robert Farnon’s imaginative Manhattan Playboy – who would not like to be associated with this glamorous character? Frederic Curzon’s Mischief is exactly that: a little piece that is slightly naughty but not wicked.

How does one listen to this CD? I guess that it is like a finger buffet: a little nibble here and there. It would be a pity to just through-play this disc with no reference to the track listing. Some of the joys of light music are the titles and the moods that they can evoke in an imaginative mind. Who will not be impressed by romantic notions such as Violins in Velvet, Musik Klingt Durch Die Nacht (Music sounds through the night) and Confetti? Or there are the topographical images of Via Amalfi, Utopia Road, Champs Elysées Café with romantic tune accordion and car horns, and the previously mentioned Market Day? Then there are the novelty numbers such as Who Killed Cock Robin? Bees a Buzzin’, Bluebell Polka and Treble Chance. And finally Joey’s Song pushes gently towards a soft Rock and Roll complete with electric guitar.

And then the musicals are not ignored on this CD: Rodgers and Hammerstein contribute Getting to Know You, Cole Porter is represented with I Concentrate on You and the music for the show Dear Miss Phoebe is by Harry Parr-Davies.

A number of delightful dance numbers include Camerata’s Pizzicato Rumba, Joseph Kuhn’s Montevideo Bolero and F. Stanley’s Bluebell Polka. There are many other pieces that make up this smorgasbord of delights

Yet it is the overall ambience of virtually all of this music that will appeal to most listeners. It is a subtle balance between well-crafted music, a feeling of lost innocence, a mood of joyfulness and happiness and an appeal to the imagination that characterises this music. On all these accounts this is a highly successful and enjoyable disc.

A full track listing, with extracts, can be found on the Guild Light Music Webpages

With thanks to MusicWeb International where this review was first publshed

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Trevor Duncan: Wine Festival

Everyone loves a glass of wine (or two) wherever it is drunk. However there are certain romantic locations which add to the drinking experience. For example drinking Lacryma Christi in Shepherds’ Bush is good: in a little bar in Sorrento overlooking the Bay of Naples is much better! I love the South of France – especially Cannes and Monte Carlo. There is nothing nicer than sipping a glass of the local vino whilst watching the world go by. And I guess that Trevor Duncan felt that way too about life. After his success with the idiomatic Girl from Corsica, his publishers persuaded him to write some more pieces with a Mediterranean flavour. As the sleeve notes for the Marco Polo recording of Duncan’s music points out ‘...in Wine Festival he imagines the sunny south of France where no-one really needs an excuse to celebrate the riches of the vines.’

The music opens with a sultry, moody tune that may suggest the weather but is more likely to be a lady! It is set in the minor key, but is warm and in no way sad. Soon a balalaika enters the fray, with a typically Mediterranean tune, which may be more suggestive of Greece than France. Suddenly snatches of a dance tune tries to assert themselves but are swept aside by Mademoiselle. However they are not kept out of the picture for long. Soon the fiesta begins with a sunny tune that surely depicts villager, vintners and the swirling of the wine. Good use is made by Duncan of the woodwind section of the orchestra. Once again the balalaika enters, suggesting evening, perhaps. The girl returns complete with lovely harp glissandi. Yet the piece is brought to a fine conclusion with a coda that echoes the dance.

Wine Festival can be heard on Marco Polo 8.223517

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Brian Easdale: Film Music on Chandos

Brian EASDALE (1909-1995) The Red Shoes - Ballet (1948) Kew Gardens - Suite for Chamber Orchestra (1936) Black Narcissus - Suite for Chorus and Orchestra (1947) The Battle of the River Plate - Prelude and March for Orchestra (1956) Adventure On! - Suite for Orchestra - A musical progress for Sir John Barbirolli and the Hallé Orchestra (1957) Gone to Earth - Suite for Chorus and Orchestra (1950) BBC National Chorus of Wales/Adrian Partington BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Rumon Gamba Cynthia Millar (ondes martenot) (Red Shoes) CHANDOS CHAN10636

As a teenager I was much more impressed by The Battle of the River Plate than with The Red Shoes. In those days television regularly showed old black-and-white films on the three channels then available. Certainly the high-paced action of John Gregson, Anthony Quayle and Patrick Macnee was infinitely preferable to Moira Shearer and Leonide Massine in a movie about ‘ballet.’ As a youngster I wanted to join the Navy: I never wanted to be a ballet dancer. However, I must confess that I do not recall the music as being an integral part of either these films.

Life moves on: I never did join the Navy: however I have come to enjoy ballet. With the advent of video and DVD it is possible to watch these two films any time I choose. Ever since discovering that Alan Rawsthorne wrote the music for The Cruel Sea I have read the film credits looking to see who the composer of the score was. As an aside, the number of times British films involve Muir Mathieson is unbelievable. It was only quite recently I noticed that Brian Easdale had written the score for The Red Shoes.

It is no part of a review of film music to discuss the plots and sub-plots of the film, if for no other reason than many listeners may not have seen the movie. Plot spoilers are not helpful. However four things need to be said about the score to The Red Shoes.

Firstly, this is superb music that should be in the repertoire of all orchestras alongside British ballet scores by Lord Berners, Constant Lambert and William Walton. Secondly the score as realised by John Wilson is actually quite short: some of the individual elements are between one and two minutes long. Yet there is a lot of musical activity packed into these nine sections. Thirdly it is possible to play ‘hunt the influence’ here to one’s heart’s content. Apart from the three above-mentioned composers one can detect the sound-world of Arthur Bliss, Maurice Ravel and Arnold Bax. However this is no criticism. These were all composers of ballet masterworks and would surely have been the stylistic model of any composer writing a film score about a troupe of ballet dancers.

Finally, I have to make the only negative comment about this entire CD. I wish Easdale had not used the ondes martenot. It is an instrument that (for me) gives any music a kind of ‘Star Trek’ feel that is unwarranted. I know that mine will probably be a minority view on this issue. Yet, it does not detract too much from what is a sumptuous and well ordered piece of music. The mood is typically romantic with a sinister undertow. The orchestration (ondes martenot notwithstanding) is totally brilliant.

One of my discoveries of 2011 has been the short suite based on music derived from the film Secrets of Kew Gardens. This was one of Brian Easdale’s earliest contributions to the world of film music. This documentary charts the course of the seasons in the context of the work at the Royal Botanical Gardens. Philip Lane has taken the original score which was for chamber ensemble and has slightly expanded the orchestration. The Suite is in four movements - an Introduction and Allegro, Spring Flowers, Summer Sequence and a Finale. The music is extremely attractive albeit short - it all seems to be over far too soon. Easdale has managed to create an impressionistic mood that is wholly English - without falling into Delian clichés. This is especially evident in the shimmering Summer Sequence. Neither has he succumbed to the temptation of folk-song. This short suite is a superb standalone miniature that portrays one of the most magical places in London with equally imaginative and magical music.

Black Narcissus is not a film I would choose to watch, although I concede that it was something of a hit when it appeared on screens in 1947. I guess stories about ‘religious’ orders in faraway locations struggling with their sexuality is just not my bag. However the music is a totally different matter. The present suite has been realised for chorus and orchestra and presents music taken from a number of key scenes from the film. Easdale has created an exquisite score that reflects the vastness and remoteness of the Himalayas where the action is largely set. However two of the movements are actually flashbacks to a time before one of the leading protagonists took holy orders. The choral music in the Irish Song certainly pushes towards an almost John Tavener-esque sound-world. It is heart-breakingly beautiful. The interlude depicting Sister Ruth and Mr. Dean is reflective. I did love the wild Hunting Song which once again looks back to days spent in Ireland. This is impressive choral writing of an almost Orffian kind! The final ‘death scene’ is scary, but ultimately effective music. Stylistically this music is an Aladdin’s cave of allusion. The Editor notices Bax, Delius and Ravel. One could add a fair few more. However, Easdale never writes pastiche or parodies. Certainly it could have been a dangerous temptation to have written some tacky music in the style of Albert Ketèlbey’s In a Monastery Garden or In a Chinese Garden. For the time it was composed, this was an advanced score: it well deserves it place on this CD.

Although I accept that the music for The Battle of the River Plate is not quite as impressive as Walton’s music for The Battle of Britain, I find something quite dark and menacing in both the Prelude and the March that is perhaps less romantically overblown but has a touch of seriousness that is entirely appropriate to the story the Graf Spee and its scuttling. Great stuff!

The Suite from Adventure On! is an absolute treat. This is an impressionistic trip around the world that is both satisfying and totally evocative of the places visited - without ever becoming ‘kitsch’. Phillip Lane in the liner-notes likens this work to Jacques Ibert’s fine orchestral work Escales. Its origins lay in a musical score for a documentary about Massey Ferguson tractors. This trade-film naturally showed their machines in operation in all corners of the world. Easdale recycled some of this music and created a suite which was subtitled ‘A musical progress for Sir John Barbirolli and the Halle Orchestra’. Places taken in on the tour include Africa, Aden, India and a final progress from Malaya to Fiji. This is a long (20 minutes) work that at times become almost symphonic in its scale and scope: the orchestration is vivid and sensitive. All in all, this is a wonderful discovery.

Perhaps it is better to lay the rather trivial plot of the film Gone to Earth aside when listening to the suite derived from the score. This is not always easy music to listen to. For example The Hunt of the Death Pack is not a bucolic idyll of huntsmen dressed in pink on a jolly. It is a man or woman being chased to a literal death. Certainly the choral writing in this piece at times nods towards a minimalistic mood which is certainly surprising for a score written in 1950! There is a little bit of sweetness and light in this music, yet most of it is deep, profound and troubled. Listening to this suite makes me wish that Easdale had contributed a symphony to the repertoire. There is something inherently beautiful (in spite of its troublesome nature) about much of this music that seems to defy analysis and probably transcends the film for which it was originally composed.

Like every other CD in the Chandos Film Music series, the quality of production is excellent. The BBC National Orchestra of Wales plays these scores with huge enthusiasm under conductor Rumon Gamba. The programme notes are helpful, in spite of some hard-to-read white text superimposed on grey photographs. However, the selection of historical photographs of the composer and also a number of stills from the films make this an attractive all-round production. Finally, all British music enthusiasts owe a tremendous debt to Philip Lane for his sterling work in producing performing editions of these film scores. Without his sheer hard work most of this music would go unheard, except on rare re-runs of these films on TV or in DVD players. However, John Wilson must also be congratulated on preparing the score for The Red Shoes. All in all, this is a tremendous achievement.

And finally, what of Manchester-born Brian Easdale (1909-1995)? It would be easy to assume that he was merely a film-music composer. Yet his catalogue covers a wide range of interesting and tantalising pieces. There are the three operas, Rapunzel, The Corn King and The Sleeping Children. Certainly his orchestral music could make an attractive Dutton Epoch release and would include Five Pieces for Orchestra, Six Poems and Tone Poem. And then there is the Concerto Lyrico for piano and orchestra. There are also chamber works, songs, organ and piano pieces. Finally, one major desideratum must be the Missa Coventriensis.

This present excellent CD must surely act as a catalyst for a deeper exploration of Easdale’s music.

With thanks to MusicWeb International where this review was first published.

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Signature: Women in Music -Spring/Summer 2011

The new issue of Signature: Women in Music has just hit the streets: well, at least the World Wide Web. This e-journal is surely one of the finest musicological magazines in the entire field of the subject. And that is not just because I have an article about the 'forgotten' composer Bluebell Klean in these pages! I have been allowed by the Journal's editor, Pamela Blevins to quote from the editorial to give a feel to the contents of this 'bumper' summer edition.

"In this issue we are moving forward through time, starting with song composer Josephine Lang in the 19th century to Olga Samaroff, Myra Hess and Elinor Remick Warren in the 20th century and Meira Warshauer in the 21st century. Each woman made or is making significant contributions to music. Some like the little-known Bluebell Klean fell into obscurity while others like Liza Lehmann enjoyed success in more than one field of music."

From a British music point of view, the key articles are those about Lehmann, (dare I say it) Klean and Myra Hess...and an important CD review of Doreen Carwithen's film music.

"Pianist Myra Hess is still well known in Britain, particularly for her life-enhancing concerts during the dark years of World War II, but she is not as well known today in the United States. John K. Adams, who had the privilege of knowing Hess, provides insights into her as an artist and as a woman and recounts her experiences in America."Musicologist and critic Marion Scott (1877-1953) who knew composer-singer Liza Lehmann provides a look at her through a review of Lehmann’s autobiography. A new CD of film music by English composer Doreen Carwithen raises the question “what might have been?” had Carwithen be given the opportunities of her male contemporaries in the film industry. Although her contribution did not contain any well-known films, she had the stuff of greatness as her music reveals."

However all the articles are of tremendous interest to those interested in music and/or the advancement of women in what was/is largely a man’s world.

Finally, one of the most important features of this journal is the quality of the numerous photographs of composer and musicians. Virtually all are seen here for the first time and add a considerable value to the magazine.

Read the Maud Powell SIGNATURE Journal on-line.

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New Edition of Manchester Sounds

Manchester Sounds. The Journal of the Manchester Musical Heritage Trust. Edited by David Fallows and David Ellis. Vol. 8 (2009-10). 272p

Volume 8 (2009-210) has just hit the streets. This fine journal published by the Manchester Musical Heritage Trust is an exceedingly worthy production from a city that is renowned for its musical achievement –both past and present. In fact, it must be one of the best musical journals currently available. It balances musical history and musicology but never descends into a ‘faux’ intellectualism or specious analysis that is only of interest to people writing PhDs!

The range of articles is wide and is not simply limited to immediate events and people in the Manchester area. For example Robin Walker gives a good account of an afternoon spent with Michael Tippett in Oxford during 1977, which was shortly after the first performances of that composer’s great Third Symphony. Peter Davison contributes an important study of Manchester’s reception of Gustav Mahler, including a complete list of first performance and recordings made by the Hallé and other local orchestras. We are reminded that Neville Cardus wrote a fine book about the composer – Gustav Mahler: his mind and his music (1972).

One of the essays that most interested me is Peter Willis on ‘Chopin in Manchester’ – an exploration of that composer’s only concert in the Northern city – at the Gentlemen’s Concert Hall, Monday 28 August 1848. It is a study that I have long toyed with doing myself. But I was well and truly beaten to the post! However, the detail and genuine erudition of this essay is stunning. Any efforts of mine would have been fourth rate. It is essential reading for all Chopin enthusiasts and is a model for future articles of a similar vein.

Perhaps one of the most important contributions to Manchester Sounds is the ‘Catalogue of Printed Works’ by Graham Peel. This has been prepared as part of Rolf Jordan’s forthcoming study of the composer. It makes fascinating reading and reveals a man who wrote a deal more music than the few Housman settings that he is ‘relatively’ well known for. It is surely essential that an imaginative CD company consider a 'collected songs' of Graham Peel – akin to that recently released for Jack Moeran. I look forward to reading Jordan’s biography when it is published; meanwhile there are a few piano pieces by Peel that I can play – including the Valses Piquantes.

Some of the other articles which caught my eye in this edition of Manchester Sounds include an overview of Graham Peel’s life by Caroline Densham (is this really Peel on page 129?), John Turner and David Lasocki consider the work of Joshua Collinge/Collins, an Eighteenth-Century Mancunian Woodwind Maker and an important study of the ‘compositional worlds’ of David Ellis and Sir John Manduell by Anthony Gilbert. Ernest Tomlinson, who is well known for his major contributions to the world of ‘light music’ as a composer, performer and historian present aspect of autobiography of a young ‘North County composer.

There are the usual offices reviews and a list of ‘First Performances in the Greater Manchester. The book reviews include a memoir about Sir Neville Cardus by Robin Daniels, Charles Halle: A Musical Life by Robert Beale. Important CD release considers include the Dutton Epoch Concerto Lirico by Thomas Pitfield and the Chandos showcase of music by Edward Gregson.

Included in this volume is a CD interview with the Master of the Queen’s Music, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies made on 26 November 2009. Alas, I was unable to get my CD player to ‘track’ it. However I am assured that this is an impressive tour de force that ranges across many subjects including his 1960’s compositions, his involvement with the musical grouping New Music Manchester, his public role as Master of the Queen’s Music and the ‘problems facing young composers in the twenty-first century’. It would be a pity if this interview is only heard by readers of this journal – it would appear to be an important addition to the musical history of Great Britain.

This is an excellent magazine which promotes music from the Greater Manchester area. By and large every article is a major contribution to the scholarship of this area. It is a journal that will be referred to again and again by musicologist and music lovers wherever they live.

Manchester Sounds is published by the Manchester Musical Heritage Trust and copies are available from Forsyth Brothers Ltd. 126, Deansgate, Manchester M3 2RG. Price £10-00

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The Nationals 2010 Highlights from the Brass Band Championships of Great Britain

Martin ELLERBY (b.1957) Terra Australis (2005) Brighouse and Rastrick Band QUEEN arr. Peter MEECHAN (b.1980) Innuendo (2008) Foden's Band George LLOYD (1913-1998) Diversions on a Bass Theme (1986) Friary Guildford Band Philip WILBY (b.1949) Psalms and Alleluias (2008) Tylorstown Band Katarina STENSTRÖM arr. Jacob Vilhelm LARSEN (b.1976) 'Eyes of a Child' Helen Williams (flügel horn) with Foden's Band Ennio MORRICONE (b.1928), arr. Robin DEWHURST 'A Fistful of Dollars' (1964?) Foden's Band Philip HARPER Willow Pattern (2009) Delph Band Alan FERNIE Royal Mile Suite (1997?) Hazel Grove Band Robin DEWHURST Mambo To Go! Foden's Band

DOYEN DOYCD279

I am always amazed at the superb musicality of brass bands. It is not just the quality of the playing that impresses me, but the adventurousness of the repertoire. When I hear the local town brass band on the sea-front, more often than not they are playing arrangements of standards, pop classics and old favourites. After the film Brassed Off there was a huge demand for ‘Orange Juice’ or rather the slow movement from Rodrigo’s ubiquitous guitar concerto! Yet there is a more profound side to the world of brass band music – that of the seemingly endless competitions. In the present CD’s case this is the Brass Band Championship of Great Britain, 2010 which took place in October in Harrogate and at the Royal Albert Hall. The disc showcases six pieces that were written specifically for the medium, played back to back with three arrangements.

I have to admit that I enjoyed the ‘original’ pieces much more than the arrangements: however I guess that the judges are looking at an all-round technique and exploitation of both massed brass and soloist endeavours. So a wide stylistic variety of pieces is important.

However, I need to get some gripes off my chest before I can review this otherwise excellent CD with an equitable mind. Four things really annoyed me. Firstly, I had to spend nearly an hour on the Internet trying to find dates for composers, arrangers and compositions. In many cases I failed. For some reason a number of ‘living’ composers’ websites do not give their date of birth! I have never been embarrassed about my age – so why should they? More importantly, D.O.B. gives the listener (and reviewer) some historical background that can be very important when evaluating a given piece. Secondly, it is essential to know when a piece of music was composed and how it is situated in the timeline of the composer’s other music in particular and musical history in general. Thirdly, whoever designed the liner-notes needs to re-evaluate their art. Trying to read a small font on a largely grey background with a superimposed picture of the Albert Hall is not easy even when the eyes are top-notch! It may look good on the computer: it is less impressive for those of us with aging or failing sight. Lastly, there are nine works presented on this CD – the liner-notes fail to discuss four of them. So I will have little to say about them except whether I like them of not! Right … now on to the music!

Of the composers presented here only three are known to me: however in the world of brass, I guess that the rest are important and regular contributors of new scores.

Martin Ellerby’s Terra Australis is a powerful work which musically explores the history and landscape of that great country. From the ‘spirit of Captain Cook searching the coastal waters’ through the observation of the indigenous population to the joy of a new life and optimistic future, the triumphs and the tragedies, the vast unexplored vistas’: they are all represented here. The music is satisfying, approachable but never derivative. The work concludes with a massive ‘Anthem for a Nation’. The work was played by the Brighouse and Rastrick Band who were declared the winners of the Championship Section at the Albert Hall.

Possibly one of the most impressive works on this CD is the Diversions on a Bass Theme by George Lloyd. This is, I believe, regarded as an extremely difficult work by the brass band fraternity. Certainly, based on the performance given by the Friary Guildford Band this piece appears complex, diverse and technically ‘impossible’. Yet they give an excellent account of what is quite evidently a ‘warhorse’. I notice that the CD catalogues contain two other versions of this work – by the Grimethorpe and Black Dyke Mills bands. So they are in great company.

The work was commissioned by the Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation in 1986 as the test-piece for the annual Mineworkers National Brass Band Contest. The composer appended a note to the score: ‘This piece is a set of variations. Traditionally variations were what they said they were, i.e. a given tune was treated in a variety of ways. The pattern of Diversions on a Bass Theme is made the other way round: a number of tunes grow out of the first bar, played by the Basses, which provides the motif for the whole work.’ It is surely one of the masterpieces of the brass band world.

Philip Wilby has written that his Psalms and Alleluias is ‘a big piece for little people’: it was composed for the National Children’s Band of Great Britain in 2008. All I can say is that they must be absolutely top-flight to be able to play such a complex and involved, but ultimately effective piece. There is no way that Wilby has written down to the players: in fact he has stretched them beyond the call of duty. This is thoroughly enjoyable music that is varied and calls for showcasing of solo instruments. The central section is truly beautiful and downright moving. The Tylorstown Band gives a great account of this work.

I will lightly pass over the arrangements as being ‘fillers’ to what is the main event. There are three works – Innuendo, which is based on a Queen tune, the Stenstrom song 'Eyes of a Child' and a theme from 'A Fistful of Dollars'. They appear to me to be workmanlike arrangements with little to recommend them except perhaps in the realm of technical difficulty.

Willow Pattern by Philip Harper is a musical evocation of the renowned ceramic pattern designed by Thomas Minton in the 1790s and seen in houses and tearooms ever since. There are a number of different versions of the romantic tale that supposedly inspired this design. The key thing to listen for in this gorgeous piece is the masterly use of the solo instruments. The conclusion of the legend has the two lovers transformed into turtle doves who soar into the sky. This imagery is well-presented by the Delph Band.

I think that my favourite piece on this CD was A Royal Mile Suite by the Scottish composer Alan Fernie. This was composed in 1989 and within the confines of its four movements celebrates the historical Royal Mile in Edinburgh. To remind listeners, this street runs from Holyrood Palace and the Scottish Parliament building up to the Castle. On the way it passes many fine buildings and institutions, including St Giles Cathedral. The first movement gives a regal account of the listener’s mood At the Palace Gates. This leads on to the heart of the work, which is a meditation in the beautiful Holyrood Park with the brooding Salisbury Craggs of Arthur’s Seat. It is a misty morning to boot. However, for a brief moment the skies clear and a glorious view is given – from the Bass Rock to Ben Lui. The third movement changes mood to suggest the ambiguous life of Nancy McElhose, an eighteenth-century lady who ran a tea shop by day and a brothel by night! It is chock-full of Scottish colour and deserves its title of Jenny Ha’s Reel. The final movement is an impressive, if slightly languorous march. Having walked the length of the Royal Mile on many occasions, from the Palace to the Castle I can sympathise with the slight feeling of (intended) lethargy. All in all this is a great work.

The liner-notes give no information about Mambo to Go composed by Robin Dewhurst, however this an exciting piece that would make a fine encore. Based on a dance-form originally developed in Havana by a certain Cachao this is a cool exploration of rhythm and brass instrumental colour. The word ‘Mambo’ means a ‘conversation with the gods’. The performance on this recording was taken from a pre-competition concert by Foden’s Band. It makes a great finish to the CD.

Apart from the reservations noted above, this is a superb CD. It will no doubt be in the collection of all brass band players and enthusiasts. However, there is a wider attraction than this specialist market. I guess most people love the sound of a brass band, whether it is the Salvation Army band playing hymns and carols at Christmas, or maybe the local band giving a summer’s day recital in the town square. It is good to push beyond the ‘arranged favourites’ and discover something of the music that has been specifically composed for the medium. The listener will find much to enjoy and be moved by.

With thanks to MusicWeb International where this review first appeared

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