Hear My Prayer

David Childs
Accompanied by the Hendon Band of the Salvation Army, Philip Wilby, Georgina Wells, Robert Childs, Steven Miles and David Nesbitt.
Doyen Recordings: CD166
Total Playing Time: 68.44

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The technical aspects of euphonium playing has developed to such as amazing extent over the past twenty years or more, that it is now difficult to remember a time when the staple diet of even the best players in the brass band world was based around the ability to play a slow melody.

Even today, some of the great euphonium tests in the hardest test pieces are the extended solos such as those found in "Le Roi d'Y's" or "Carnaval Romain". In purely technical terms, they are now within the grasp of just about every euphonium player in the top ranked bands and beyond, but musically, it is a different matter. There is an art to slow melodic playing - an art that has just about been lost by the modern generation of players.

Those who remember great euphonium names such as Whitham, Clough, Groom and Sullivan to name but a few will surely recall that their greatest asset was the ability to make music from the most simple of lines. They knew how to phrase and mould, shape and colour - craftsmen with an innate understanding of what the composer was wishing to say. The advent of the new breed of euphonium players in the 1980's and beyond starting with Stephen Mead, Billy Miller and both Childs brothers and moving on to the likes of David Thornton, Morgan Griffiths and finally to David Childs, Steven Miles and Tormod Flaten meant that this type of playing became increasingly redundant as both composers and the players themselves sought to extend their technical as well as musical boundaries. Not that these lads couldn't play a good tune, it was just that so much more was expected of them - especially by audiences.

Not many euphonium players nowadays play "old fashioned" slow melodies as stand up solos in a band concert or contest. And when we say "old fashioned" we certainly don't mean rehash pop ballads either - we are talking good old tunes that had words as well as music that made sense. This is why this release from David Childs is such a pleasant 68 minutes of listening.

Everyone knows this lad can play. His last two CD releases were superb examples of the modern euphonium art, but until now we had yet to hear in him more mellow, subdued even, mood. What we get here though is a player who has fully inherited the art of melodic playing from the former generations of great players. The sound of the modern euphonium is of course so much different to that which was heard twenty or more years ago – it is now a more fuller, darker hued instrument throughout the range (the wider bore and lighter materials are given as a major cause), but it still needs a player who understands it's capabilities to make it sound vibrant and alive – just like a fine tenor voice.

This David Childs does superbly on 17 tracks that not technically challenging (although some would be to mere mortals) are musically very demanding. There is a need in nearly all of them to understand what was the original written text, its meaning and meter, a skill harder than it appears at first (and one that the modern brass band finds very difficult when playing hymn tunes) and perhaps his Welsh background (he was born in Grimethorpe, but he has a background that has the stamp of the Welsh Dragon on it) has helped.

The Welsh it is a said are born with a love of a great tune, and the ability to make the most of then when they sing (although those who have heard Tom Jones of late will disagree perhaps) and David Childs confirms he has the most lyrical sense of musical line and phrase. The simplicity of many of the works disguises the hidden traps that less experienced players would possibly fall into, but this is a player who allows the music time to breath and develop naturally rather than forcing to gain effect. The result is 17 tracks that make for a very pleasant listening experience.

The bonus for us is that the arrangements themselves are not overly developed as to lose track of the original simple ideas, whilst the accompaniment of Hendon Salvation Army Band as well as the contributions of Philip Wilby on organ, Georgina Wells on harp and the assistance of Robert Childs, Steven Miles and David Nesbitt, enhance the music played.

We have come to expect a great deal of David Childs. He continues to come up trumps.

Iwan Fox

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