The Cory Band has announced that they will be embarking on an exciting long term recording project.

The 'Cornerstones for Brass' series produced by World of Brass Recordings will see the European Champion record a number of the seminal works in the brass band repertoire, with MD Philip Harper explaining to 4BR, the artistic ethos behind the decision.

Ambition

"One of my ambitions with Cory is to record some of the classic repertoire, both for our own learning, exploration and development, but mainly because we know there is huge interest amongst band fans to hear these works in new and fresh presentations.

I've always wanted to create recordings of these important works which deliver more of a sense of space than is usually heard, both musically and acoustically."

He revealed that the first volume will be called 'Landscapes' and will feature 'A Moorside Suite' by Gustav Holst (1928), 'A Downland Suite' by John Ireland (1932), 'Variations on the Shining River' by Edmund Rubbra (1958), 'High Peak' by Eric Ball (1969) and 'Cloudcatcher Fells' by John McCabe (1985).

Wide cross section

Philip continued: "I've decided to theme each of the releases both to provide a cohesive thread, and also to include pieces representative of a wide cross section of eras."

Future volumes will be centred around different themes, such as 'Variations', 'Dance', 'Elements' and 'Cities', and will feature music from a variety of eras and composers such as Herbert Howells, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gilbert Vinter, Edward Gregson and Philip Wilby.

I've decided to theme each of the releases both to provide a cohesive thread, and also to include pieces representative of a wide cross section of erasPhilip Harper

Criteria

He added: "The only criteria for inclusion will be the undisputed reputation of each piece as a 'classic', although we hope to revive lesser heard works too, such as 'Variations on the Shining River' on the first release. Everyone is looking forward to this exciting project."

4BR understands that 'Landscapes' will be recorded in July and December 2019, with the CD released on the World of Brass label in Spring 2020.