Journey Into Freedom

Enfield Citadel Band
Bandmaster James Williams MBE
Soloists: Sheona White and Steve Sykes
SP&S Recordings: SPS 167CD
Total Playing Time: 76.05mins

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Ever since Journey Into Freedom was used as the test piece at the 1967 National Championships of Great Britain, it has remained one of the truly great, as well as one of the most popular works for brass band.

However, Eric Ball's composition was written towards the end of a decade when the values that he and many Salvationists held central to their beliefs were in perhaps their greatest time of flux. The 1960's had seen the Cold War escalate through the Cuban Missile Crisis, the widespread abandonment of so called "traditional values" by a disaffected youth and the start in Britain of the "White Heat" of Harold Wilson's industrial policies. 1967 was perhaps the crux year – Biafra, The Six Day War, the Christian Barnard heart transplant and the first Chinese Atom Bomb all took place during those twelve months, and so when you try and look for the inspiration behind the great work, it is not hard to see why the composer sought to reaffirm his belief that love and spiritual fulfilment through God could still be achieved even against such a depressingly violent and harsh background. Technology was beginning to reign supreme and the thought that man was now dependent on the machine for its very survival was now in the assent. The 1960's may have been swinging for some, but they were also bleakly cruel and distressing for many, many more.

Journey Into Freedom is therefore a masterpiece not only of it's time, but of any time when the freedom of the human spirit is subjected to such inequities, and why today it still resonates so strongly as a descriptive piece of musical writing. Even in this current age obsessed with the curse of "celebrity" and afflicted by a dumbing down process governed by the need to "entertain", Eric Ball's work remains a powerful reminder of all that is essential.

Enfield under James Williams give a very powerful account of the work – a performance that for us differs greatly from the approach many secular bands have brought to the composition over the past 35 years or more. The tempo at the very beginning is ferocious and the usual rounded sound of the band that has been heard to such excellent extent throughout the CD is deliberately dropped and becomes cold and lifeless as the MD strives to portray the distopia of the Brave New World. In comparison the themes of love and redemption are gloriously warm and intense and a playful jollity is also heard in the tricky scherzando sections. It is a very different account though – the six sections of the piece seem to stand alone in isolation at times and some of the technical aspects of the piece are not always successfully overcome (especially the horns triplets at the beginning which sound like two semis and a triplet), but it is still one that brings a freshness and immediacy to a great work and one that certainly makes you think.

Shoena White and Steve Sykes are two soloists who can also change the mood, colour and timbre of any work they bring their considerable talent to bear on, and the six works on which they are featured here showcase two mightily impressive performers.

Sheona White produces a lovely silky full tone throughout the range of the instrument, and she has a technical facility that never subdues her innate musicality. Each of her three offerings are expertly executed with a fluidity that makes the pieces come vibrantly to life and are a pleasure to listen to. Peter Graham's "Episode for Horn" is playful and energetic whilst Erik Leidzen's "The Old Rustic Bridge" is made to sound fresh and accessible. James Curnow's "The Depths of His Love" is delivered with aplomb and completes three wonderful examples of tenor horn playing of the very highest class.

Steve Sykes as we have come to expect over the years is quite brilliant. He can make the tuba sound like a baritone at times without ever losing the fullness of tone, whilst his ability to make even the most technically demanding passages sound neat and facile borders on the breathtaking. He starts off with a super clean account of the Bach "Basso Continuo" (the quick bit from the Wilby "Lowry Sketchbook") before a lovely performance of the Morrison "He Wipes the Tear". The showpiece though is a tour de force performance of "Celestial Morn" by Leslie Condon which is based on the hymn tune "Will you be there, and I?" and is delivered in a manner that makes this a very definitive account.

Finally there is a wonderful cheerful march from the pen of William Himes entitled "Rolling Along" which sounds like the theme tune to one of those 1960's comedy programmes that featured Harry Worth, whilst there is also a fine performance of Ivor Bosanko's lovely "In this Quiet Moment". "Amazing Grace" is also played with feeling, but we were somewhat mystified by the approach to the Kevin Norbury arrangement of "Polovtsian Dances". It starts in what sounds like a very slow first gear mode in the Acker Bilk section before someone touches the blue touchpaper and the turbo charger literally catapults the band into a frenzied Russian knees up that seems to have taken its inspiration from a vodka induced night out in the Kremlin. Exciting certainly – but not exciting in the way you would have hoped and it becomes too hurried and messy.

It is the only thumbs down we gave on a fine release. The production values are high, the soloists are excellent and the playing of the band is very nearly the same from start to finish. The sleeve notes are excellent too and the bods at SP&S have certainly employed a top notch graphic designer to give this and many of their latest CD's striking covers. Overall then, a quality release.

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