Highlights of the Norwegian Brass Band Championship 2003

Various
Doyen Recordings CD146
Total playing time: 2 hours 17.23

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This is a memorable double CD just for two performances by the Stavanger Band and Professor David King (to give him his new title) and some extraordinary playing by Martin Winter.

Recorded live in Bergen in February, the double CD encapsulates everything that is great about these Norwegian National Championships. The music on offer ranges from the era of Eric Ball and Gilbert Vinter, and music of the modern day with some Gregson, Wilby & Sparke to whet the taste buds.

Stavanger Brass Band were winners of The Elite Division and both CDs commence with their winning performances in the set and own choice works. The first offering is Eric Ball's "A Kensington Concerto", and pretty early on, you can not fail but to be impressed with the sheer quality of the playing. The band appears relaxed and at ease and hence, the music is allowed to breathe by the MD. What you hear is a performance of real musical quality and finesse. The music is not hard to play (by modern day standards) but first section bands tackling this piece come September in Dundee can certainly discover how to create a winning performance from this recording.

Stavanger's second contribution to the CD is their winning performance of Derek Bourgeois' "Concerto Grosso". This is an extremely difficult piece of music to ‘pull off' but in David King, here is a man that has quite literally patented how the piece should be performed. Recent performances in the European have shown that the Australian knows everything there is to know about the music. Just over a month after the championships in Bergen, Dr King recorded the "Concerto Grosso" with YBS, before utilising the piece again in their defence of their European title (which of course they won).

This is a performance of real quality, and you sense pretty quickly, that this is a band that is going to produce something quite special - and it certainly leaves you sitting on the edge of your seat. In the early part of the piece, the quality of the Euphonium and bass shines through, and as the music progresses, the quieter moments are absolutely sublime. The blues section benefits from some top-notch flugel playing and the finish is exhilarating. In our retrospective view, (after the contest) we made the point that this is one of the most impressive performances of the Concerto that we (at 4BR) have heard, and this recording reinforces that point. Awarded 99 points, you can easily be tempted to press the ‘repeat button' to hear it time, and time, again.

At the outset we said that this CD is worth investing in for Stavanger but also for the playing of Martin Winter which is perhaps even better than anything any of the bands managed over the two days. Martin was competing with Eikanger in Norway, and the nature of the Norwegian contest mean that brass instruments not used in competition in the UK such as the trumpet are permitted. Eikanger's Dr Nicholas Childs therefore chose Gregson's ‘Trumpet of the Angels' for their own choice offering.

The Trumpets might not be everybody's cup of tea but it certainly challenges both player and listener. The piece commences with some powerful playing from band and organ, which has you reaching for the volume button on the remote. The trumpet players perform in turn making musical statements, and then you hear a musical performance of extraordinary, mesmerising proportions from Martin Winter.

Imitating what is supposed to be a fallen angel, Martin performs a lengthy cadenza, which just leaves you speechless. It goes into the ‘has to be heard to be believed' category. Putting Martin's performance in isolation, if you were to hear trumpet playing of this standard from Hakan Hardenberger at say the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts, then commentators would be drooling at the quality of the performance. and thank goodness it has been caught on CD for prosperity.

You need to hear the piece in full on more than one occasion, as the first time you listen, your mind goes blank after Martin Winter's Cadenza. The rest of the performance though is extremely high in quality and leaves the listener breathless at times in awe of the quality of performance.

The other six performances on this double disc concentrate on the first, second and third divisions of the Championships. Philip Sparke fans will enjoy Tertnes Brass (John Hinckley) performance of "Variation on an Enigma", which certainly is not lacking in passion and commitment. Second place in the first section went to Tomra, who perform Wilby's "Paginini Variations", which is memorable for the infamous flugel solo.

Banding traditionalists will be overjoyed by the inclusion of Gilbert Vinter's "Entertainments" from the winners of the fourth division, Tertnes Amatorkorps, and former Black Dyke man Michael Antrobus conducted Orksog Brass to runners up spot in the second division with a competent performance of Gregson's "Plantagenets", whilst Professor Gregson's "Dances and Arias" is heard in a fine reading by the Brottum Mussikkforening who took the second division. Kenneth Downie fans will enjoy "Purcell Variations" that gave Fraena Musikkorps the title in the third division.

With over two hours of music-making, you certainly get your monies worth and the Doyen team have once again produced a recording high in quality, that would certainly sit-well in any bander's collection of CDs.

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