Vélkomne med Æra

Krohnengen Brass Band
Musical Director – Ray Farr
All Musikk Fremfort AV:KBB
Total Playing Time: 71.56 mins

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This is a very interesting CD from the Norwegian Band currently ranked 71 in the 4barsrest rankings. Ray Farr has worked with the band for the last five years and the recording is we feel aimed more at the serious collector rather than something you would put on when Granny comes round for a cup of tea!

The pieces were all originally composed by contemporary Norwegian composers and mainly arranged for brass band by Ray Farr. There are lots of Ray Farr characteristics such as imaginative scoring, interesting use of mutes and percussion etc – all good stuff!

There is also lots of good playing from the band although they maybe lack a little depth of sound at times. The Krohnengen players are however very technically adept. The recording is generally good although a little muffled in places. Track 9 ‘Langeleik tune' which is part of Vélkomne med Æra [A Hundred Hardanger Tunes] is characteristic of much of the CD - A little bit quirky. Ray is definitely in Elgar Howarth mode and much of his clever orchestrations clothe what are essentially simple melodies given their own individual sound world – a bit like a Norwegian Pictures at an Exhibition. Track 14 ‘Braggart's Ballad is a great piece which really does conjure up its intended theme.

Nordic Night is an arrangement by Tom Brevik and features some lovely Flugal playing from Hildegunn Haram Lie. The piece has some lovely warm sounds as we have come to expect from arrangements by this Norwegian stalwart. It exhibits a melancholic feel that seems to run throughout the CD – is this a Norwegian characteristic?

Fanfare and Choral (Track 18), another Ray Farr arrangement is a cracking piece. It is very dramatic and its impressive opening leads into a weird tuba solo in the middle. An atonal fugue leads to a climatic end. We like this!!

Ray Farr is well-known for his arranging skills, but track 20 features an original composition called Viking Saga. It is an interesting piece and opens with a section that sounds very reminiscent of Edward Gregson's Dances and Arias. The structure is very similar to Ray's ‘Adventures in Brass' with a low middle section and big reprise. There are some good moments but it just seems to lose its way a little.

The Euphonium solo featuring soloist Eldfrid Nerland is the big disappointment. Why include an arrangement of a piece by Edvard Grieg on a CD that celebrates 20th and 21st Century Norwegian composers? Is the credibility of Norway's greatest composer needed (even if he is from a different time and sound world?) to add strength to the talents of these modern works? And why no Aagard Nilson?

These are minor criticisms though of a really good CD. The chromaticism and atonal language of much of the music might not be everyone's cup of tea, but you will be fascinated by a lot of what you hear.

Richard Grantham

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