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The 4BR Spotify Playlist No.2
Harry Mortimer

A playlist of the great Man of Brass both conducting and playing in an era when style came with substance.

Spotify

4BR has launched an exciting new addition to our regular features with our very own ‘Spotify Playlist’ of bands and artists in performance for you to enjoy.

We will be featuring selections of our own, as well as from guests, and explaining why the tracks have been chosen.

To kick things off we had classic Black Dyke Mills Band, and it is now followed by music conducted or performed by  the great Harry Mortimer.

Note: You will need a Spotify account to listen to the full tracks. Not a Spotify user? Sign up for a FREE account.

Playlist link: Harry Mortimer

Harry Mortimer (1902 -1992) was arguably the most famous brass band musician of all time.  He was the complete musical polymath – player, conductor, composer, arranger, adjudicator, teacher, broadcaster and contest organiser. His influence on the banding world was immense.

These selections are not meant to be definitive in any way shape or form, but they do offer a glimpse of the musical style of the man. 

Much of the music comes from either his All Star Brass Band or Men of Brass, whilst the solo items see him performing with the Philharmonia Orchestra and the London Brass Players.

The standard of playing varies greatly it must be said - even with him as a soloist, but above all else it is the sense of style that he brings to the music that stands out: Everything flows without recourse to artifice. 

It is music making from a different era in more ways than one - the witty marches especially.  ‘The Corner Flag’ recalls the football of a generation of Matthews and Finney, the maximum wage and winger’s shorts that bellowed in the breeze like sails on a tea clipper.   ‘Thunderbirds’ hasn’t got a single CGI special effect in it either.

There is a delicacy of touch with ‘Elizabethan Serenade’ by Ronald Binge that has almost been denuded to extinction in modern brass band playing, and a craftsmanship to the approach to the final movement of ‘Kenilworth’ and of the test-piece ‘Blackfriars’ that has a sense of elegance as well as drama. 

It is the same with the brilliant overture 'Ruy Blas' - a classic in anyone's book, ‘The Holy City’ (even if the singing isn’t too brilliant) and Rachmaninov’s ‘Prelude in C Sharp Minor’ which yearns with melancholic pathos.



Contest: Lower Sections 1-4 National Finals

Saturday 13 September • Cheltenham Racecourse, Evesham Road, Cheltenham GL50 4SH


Contest: Lower Sections 1-4 National Finals

Sunday 14 September • Cheltenham Racecourse, Evesham Road, Cheltenham. . *Please note as of 24th August 2023 the date is provisional according to Kapitol Promotions website GL50 4SH


Petworth Town Band - Petworth Town Band at Petworth Heritage weekend

Saturday 20 September • Centre of Petworth Town GU28 OAH


Cheltenham Silver Band - Holst Birthday Concert

Saturday 20 September • All Saints Church, All Saints Road, Pittville, Cheltenham GL52 2HG


Regent Hall Concerts - The Band of the Grenadier Guards Big Band

Friday 26 September • Regent Hall (The Salvation Army). 275 Oxford Street. WC1 2DJ W1C2DJ


Epping Forest Band

September 11 • We have a solo horn vacancy to join our friendly 3rd section band. We have a sensible calendar of contests and concerts.. Situated with close links to the M11/M25 and Central line tube station, with our own band room.. Rehearsals Monday night 8-10pm.


Delph Band

September 9 • We are a friendly, hardworking North West 2nd Section band based in Saddleworth. Rehearsal nights are Mondays and Wednesdays, 8-10pm at Delph Band Club. We are currently looking to fill the following positions; Tutti Cornet, Percussion and Eb Bass.


Otley Brass Association

September 7 • Front Row Cornet. -. Otley Brass Band are keen to recruit a 5th member for their front row cornets (position negotiable).. . This is an exciting opportunity to join a thriving band of 30+ players under the leadership of our newly appointed MD, Martyn Beecham


Steve Pritchard-Jones

FTCL LTCL LDBBA DipMusEd GMus QTS NPQH
Conductor, Adjudicator, Teacher


               

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