Hymn of the Highlands

Yorkshire Building Society
Conductor: Dr. David King
Soloists: Stuart Lingard, Michael Howley, Peter Roberts, Iwan Williams, Sheona White, Margaret Antrobus.
Polyphonic Recordings: QPRL214D
Total Playing Time: 70.03 Mins

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In these days of political correctness gone mad, it is quite easy to forget that people for many years have quite easily fallen into the trap of stereotypical imagery to describe others. Given that even music has played its part in this outdated practice you should always be wary when composers take racial identity as the basis of "concept pieces".

Over the past few years there has been a proliferation of this type of music that has come flooding onto our CD players - from the higgledy piggledy o'Irish theme pub, Riverdance tripe to rehash Men of Harlech, Rourke's Drift, "Zulu's - 'fowzunds of 'em" type of thing. It must be said, that when it comes to beating the nationalistic drum the average composer has been found wanting - big style. Why for instance do all these pieces have to be written with alliterative titles given to them - "Cry of the Celts", "Windows of the World" and the forthcoming "Call of the Cossacks"? - Do Celts Cry? Doesn't Bill Gates already own all the Windows of the World? - and you can't really imagine the rampaging Cossacks leaving a calling card can you?

See what we mean - It is a very easy trap to fall into, but with a bit of musical thought and grammatical intelligence such things can be averted successfully.

Yorkshire Building Society have tried with considerable success over the past few years to get away from the problems associated with these types of works with a series of extended "concept pieces" that evoke cultural musical identity without dipping into the bag marked "stereotype". The former works mentioned broke new ground in programmatic material, but it has not been until now, with the release of the specially commissioned "Hymn of the Highlands" by Philip Sparke, that they have really exploited the medium to the full.

The title not withstanding, this is a superbly constructed work - one that explores in it's seven movements the descriptive characteristics of the geographical area of Scotland known as the "Highlands". It does so by not succumbing to the easy thematic style of material that becomes boring and one dimensional even after a first hearing, but by exploring the underlying foundations of musical hinterland that defines the spirit and cultural lifeblood of the people and places it tries to portray.

Philip Sparke is an exceptional brass composer, and he is on top form here. All seven movements are different in character and colour and the soloists from the band are outstanding. There are faint echoes throughout the piece of the composers other works - especially "Harmony Music" in the last - "Dundonnell" and he gives a nod or two to the likes of Sir Malcolm Arnold as well - and for those of you who have heard his works, this is no bad thing at all. What we get throughout is a beautifully constructed work of real substance with the solo items given superb readings. Peter Roberts is scintillating, whilst Michael Howley, Stuart Lingard, Iwan Williams, Sheona White and Margaret Antrobus are in no way over shadowed. At 35 minutes in length it is used as a complete second half to a concert by the band and even though this is how the work should be heard to appreciate it fully, any of the individual parts would fit with ease into any concert programme with ease.

In addition to this substantial work the release also sees the band give a pretty good airing of "Whitsun Wakes" by Michael Ball. As the CD was recorded a month before this year's Yorkshire Regional Championships, it is interesting to hear how they approach it. Dr King opts for a version of breadth and musical space - almost concert rather than contest in performance terms and from memory it doesn't differ much if at all from how they performed it at that contest. That it didn't win in Bradford isn't the point perhaps, but it is a very interesting interpretation none the less and even more so when you compare it against Black Dyke's recent release of the same piece on CD. You can make your own mind up which you think is the better of the two.

The three other items are a spankingly good run through Kenneth Hesketh's "Masque" - a modern twist on 17th century musicianship; a lovely performance of the "Bells of Peover" by Stuart Lingard and yet another fine work from the pen of Kenneth Downie of "The Isle of Mull". All are top class works given top class outings.

Given our reservations then, is "Hymn of the Highlands" a success. Undoubtedly yes - with knobs, sporrans, kilts and Tam O' Shanters on. Damn! See how easy it is to fall into the Stereotype trap. Congratulations to YBS for not doing the same thing.

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