The Virtuosi Brass Band of Great Britain Vol IV - VII

Conductors:
Eric Ball, James Scott, Harry Mortimer, Maurice Handford and Stanley Boddington

Volume IV - KRCD 1023 - 63.09 mins
Volume V - KRCD1024 - 60.44 mins
Volume VI/VII - KRCD1025-26 - 57.01 & 69.34

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The recordings of the Virtuosi Brass band of Great Britain continue with Volumes IV to VII, giving the modern audience, and those who no longer have turntables to play the original LP's, the chance to hear some fine playing by some of the most famous names in the world of brass bands.

The players are listed in the comprehensive booklets that accompany the releases, and were selected from the leading bands of the day, including Black Dyke Mills, Brighouse & Rastrick, Grimethorpe Colliery, GUS (Footwear), Manchester (CWS), Yorkshire Imperial Metals, and the James Shepherd Versatile Brass ensemble. Volume VII is mainly made up of items recorded at the band's only public concert, given in Portsmouth in 1979, and will be considered separately from the others.

Each volume contains tracks drawn from various of the original recordings, with a fair smattering of marches. In these volumes they are mostly contest, rather than street marches and, particularly when Eric Ball himself is at the podium, are taken at a steady pace with careful shaping of the melodies and countermelodies. Percussion is prominent, but as before it is a pity that an additional player was not engaged to enable more use of clash cymbals where appropriate.

There are also three marches taken from the classical repertoire, the Triumphal March from Aida (Vol. V), La Reine de Saba by Gounod (Vol. IV) and Elgar's Imperial March (also Vol. IV). Of these, the Gounod seems most effective, reminiscent of the music favoured by French cavalry bands, whilst the Verdi appears a little overblown at the climaxes and the Elgar, although stately and impressive at the outset, becomes shrill at times, and one cannot help wondering if it was laid down towards the end of a tiring session.

It is a pleasure to hear Herold's "Zampa" overture (Vol. IV), which tends to be played less frequently these days, whilst "Russlan & Ludmilla", in Walter Hargreaves' arrangement (Vo.l V) is taken at a fair lick, but steady enough for the band to negotiate the difficulties of this music without it becoming an unruly scramble. The Shostakovich "Festival Overture" however (Vol. VI), does not come off as well. Taken much steadier than is customary nowadays the tempi do not seem to work, and the playing seems at times brash and overpowering, even with Harry Mortimer in the middle.

Of the major works included, the two overtures arranged for contest purposes by Frank Wright, "Les Francs-Juges" (Vol. VI) and Le Roi d'Ys (Vol. IV) are both impressive, with the Berlioz bringing out some excellent uniformity in the scalic passages and the interchanges between the various sections of the band.

These volumes also include a fine reading of Percy Fletcher's "An Epic Symphony" (Vol. IV). The notes explain that this was the first item ever recorded by the band, and the trombones in particular impress. Other favourites include "Comedy Overture" (Vol. VI) and Herbert Howell's "Three Figures" (Vol. V) - not as accessible perhaps as "Pageantry" but well worth exploring. There is also Henry Geehl's concert overture "Oliver Cromwell" (Vol. V) that filled a gap in this reviewer's collection, and is one of three pieces he wrote for the National Championships.

Soloists featured include Stan Priestley on trombone, playing "I wish you love" (Vol. IV) in smooth, relaxed style, whilst Trevor Groom and John Clough are heard in a euphonium duet version of "Le Cygne", arranged for them by Charles Mott (Vol. V). A novelty item such as "Tyrolean Tubas" (Vol. V) can be a little embarrassing unless the soloists enter into it whole-heartedly, and here it comes across effectively, played by a team which includes, in Les Beevers and Derek Jackson, two of 4barsrest's top ten BBb bass players!

Of the other items, no doubt each listener will have their own highlights to select. It is good to hear "Solemn Melody" by Walford Davies (Vol. IV), probably best known, as Fred Waters points out, as the composer of the RAF March Past (the first section anyway, but that's another story!) but many
choristers past and present will also recall his well-loved setting of "God be in my head". Don Osgood was a musician who maintained links with both The Salvation Army and the world of contesting bands, and his attractive "Round the Clock" (Vol. VI), written in 1959 to mark the centenary of Big Ben, and possibly familiar to listeners from previous recordings by Brighouse and Faireys, features some lovely chording from the flugel and horns.

Volume VII commences with a spoken introduction from James Scott, in which he explains the decision to produce a final volume, to include Eric Cundell's "Blackfriars", as well as ten items recorded in Portsmouth at the band's only public appearance. "Blackfriars" receives a committed reading under the direction of Harry Mortimer, and one tends to agree with the writer of the sleeve notes when he wonders why it has been somewhat neglected over the years.

The live concert itself was fraught with difficulties, not least of which were the delays in travelling to Portsmouth caused by traffic heading for the Formula 1 Grand Prix at Silverstone! With eight new members, including Phillip McCann as Principal Cornet, it was unfortunate that a planned three-hour rehearsal ended up as an hour and a half run-through. There were also a couple of adjustments made to the planned programme.

Three ensemble features were included, each of which show off the players effectively. Roy Newsome's "Hat Trick" was written whilst he was resident conductor at Black Dyke and celebrates their hat trick of wins at the British open in 1972/3/4. David Essex, Kevin Wadsworth and David Williams are the three horn players, blending well as a section. The trombone trio "Polka Dots" was specially arranged for the concert by Eric Ball, showcasing the band's regular trombone section, heard to good effect throughout these discs, in the person of Stan Priestley, Terry Hext and Ian Copland.
Thirdly, Leroy Anderson's "Bugler's Holiday" gives all five solo cornets the chance to display some deft tonguing.

Some of the best playing on this disc is to be found in three slower pieces, Debussy's "Girl with the Flaxen Hair", Faure's "Pavane" and Gordon Langford's arrangement of "All through the Night". There is some very delicate shaping of the phrases, with every note being made to count, with a particular breadth of sound underpinned by the first class bass section.

The rendition of "Journey Into Freedom" is claimed to be possibly the only recording of the work under Eric Ball himself. The impression is of a performance kept under tight control, with very deliberate piecing together of the various elements in this quite complex work. There is some striking playing from the soloists, notably cornet and EEb bass, with tidy trills, especially from the horns. One wonders, however, to what extent it was a deliberately "safe" reading, due to the lack of rehearsal time, and perhaps it is lacking the frisson found in the best versions of the piece.

As a documentary recording of a band of great names this volume undoubtedly has its place, but there are numerous blips, and it is not for those who prefer studio recordings where every slip has been edited out. Nevertheless the tracks should be available for the sake of completeness, and will bring a great deal of enjoyment as long as one makes allowance for the circumstances surrounding the occasion. Volume VII comes with Volume VI as a two disc set at a special price.

All in all these discs contain some fine music making and will offer a good deal of enjoyment. There are times when the playing style and the interpretations differ from what is commonly heard today, with a more constant use of vibrato, and the percussion writing sounding quite dated - possibly due to the very sparing use of tuned percussion? There is no doubting, however, the quality of the players taking part, and there are some outstanding performances to be found.

Peter Bale

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