European Brass Band Championships 2002

Live from the Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels
Yorkshire Building Society, Brass Band Willebroek, Black Dyke, Brass Band Nord Pas de Calais, Ivan Meylemans, Stef Pillaert
Doyen Recordings: CD 136
Total Playing Time: 2hrs 20.45

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The 2002 European Brass Band Championships, held at the impressive Palais des Beaux Arts in the Belgium capital city of Brussels, was arguably the strongest ever brass band field assembled to do battle in the events 25 year history. The vagrancies of the complex National qualification processes have meant that not every year has the field been as strong as it was on the weekend of the 3rd to the 5th of May, so it was therefore appropriate that on its Silver Jubilee, the European was as near a faultless event as anyone could have hoped for.

For those of us lucky enough to have been there, it was a memorable weekend indeed, but for those of you who weren't, you now have the chance to relive some of the undoubted highlights in the form of this double CD from Doyen.

That being said, the organisers shouldn't become complacent, as there is still the opportunity to improve the contest weekend further – the First Section event in particular needs a radical rethink and the near disastrous Maurice Andre episode cannot be allowed to happen again (and has thankfully for all parties been left off the release). Still, congratulations to Markus Bach and his team – the European is now firmly ensconced as the premier brass band contest in the World.

The release is split into two distinct parts, with Yorkshire Building Society, the worthy eventual Champions taking up the first CD with their winning performances of both the set work and "Own Choice" sections, as well as showcasing their recent "Hymn of the Highlands" release and accompanying trombone soloist Ivan Meylemans.

"Chain" by Piet Swerts is given a brilliantly engrossing performance, which reminded us once more of how David King moulded and shaped the piece so differently from every other MD on the day. Where others went for speed and volume to try and bring the feeling of agitation to the music, the Australian reigned back the temptation to "peak" too soon and the piece developed with a sense of real menace and anticipation. We did say on the day that he "showboated" a little (including a foot stamp a Flamenco dancer would have been proud of), but even without the visual reminders it remains a performance of rare quality. His players didn't leave him down either and the playing of Sheona White in the hardest tenor horn solo you are ever likely to hear, is the pick.

The piece itself was a fine choice, and although the last quarter is somewhat repetitive and one-dimensional it is music that deserves to be used again at a high level. Not quite a great piece but fine enough nonetheless and worthy of consideration for use as a Regional test at least.

"Concerto Grosso" is a different kettle of fish entirely – an amazing work that only the very, very best bands can ever hope to make come off. YBS did it – but not without a liberal sprinkling of blips and blobs, especially in the first minute or so of the performance. Overall it is a quite awesome 20 minute show though and the solo playing from Ben Godfrey on flugel and Peter Smith on tuba is as good as it gets. Peter Roberts is just Peter Roberts. It was (even with the small mistakes) a performance as we said at the time, was nigh on unbeatable – and so it proved.

Ivan Meylemans gives a top class account of the Bourgeois "Concerto for Trombone", before YBS bring the house down with "Hymn of the Highlands". Five of the sections are collected here for posterity and it proved once again that Philip Sparke is a master of the craft of providing crowd pleasers to order. Lots of subtle nods and winks to both his previous output and to the likes of Malcolm Arnold make for a pot pourri as satisfying as deep fried Mars bars and a pint of "Heavy". Great stuff.

How do you follow that then? The second CD is made up of two very revealing "own choice" selections from Black Dyke and Willebroek, as well as the winning performance from the First Section, an idiosyncratic solo spot and Dyke providing the packed audience at the Gala Concert with a showstopper of their own.

Willebroek and Frans Violet provide ample evidence of their abilities with a top notch showing of "Dove Descending…", which is brilliant indeed in the loud and fast passages, but which sounded uncomfortable in the immensely difficult "Nativity". It was still good enough for third place in this section though and ensured that they pipped Black Dyke for the eventual runners up spot – a touch fortuitous for us on this evidence, although the judges were the ones that counted and the audience gave them one heck of an ovation. They remain a very fine sounding ensemble and a band of proven class.

Dyke gave Wilby's "Revelation" a spanking of epic proportions – although they too had moments of unease at the beginning and the just enough small (and we mean small) errors in individual lines to just take the shine off what could have been a winner of a show. David Thornton on euph is immense though and that old stalwart John French is a superb foil in the slow section. In the end, it just wasn't enough, although we felt then and now, that it had the class to secure an overall silver medal.

The First Section Champions, Brass Band Nord Pas de Calais were a veritable "promenade" ahead of their rivals in the First Section and would have held their own in the top section contest. Big and bold with solid soloists and a good musical sense of style, they give "Excalibur" a noteworthy outing and bring back memories of their two OTT percussionists. Never have two garcons performed with so much Gallic flair in the cause of French banding – completely bonkers and as camp as Dale Winton at a Village People convention. They were however, superb players – but by heck, didn't they know it.

Stef Pillaert gives one of the most idiosyncratic accounts of Carnival of Venice you are ever likely to hear – brilliantly different to say the least. You will either love it or loathe it. It is 8 minutes and 6 seconds long – and for us that is about 8 minutes too long. Still, the crowd loved it, and it is superbly played, with the soloist gaining a well-deserved raucous ovation.

Finally, two sections from "Call of the Cossacks" with Black Dyke on rippingly good form (a pity we couldn't have got the whole lot on the CD) and Nicholas Childs even getting the audience to clap in the right place and very nearly in time and in tune! It was a reminder of a superb end to a Gala Concert that was a fitting climax to the 25th European Championships and shows that at the moment there is an insatiable appetite for alliterative theme titles. As long as they are as good as this Peter Graham effort then we can look forward to hearing some more.

25 years old then – the European has overcome it initial growing pains, a few odd teenage years and a difficult relationship or two to become an amazing event. Here's to the next 25.

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