The Red Machine

The Band of Her Majesty's Coldstream Guards
Conducted by Major Graham Jones, MBE
Egon: CD SFZ 123
Total playing time: 71.18 mins

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Having been involved with a band, it is only natural that one follows its progress down through the years, and so I must declare an interest when considering 'The Red Machine', the recent recording by the Band of Her Majesty's Coldstream Guards featuring the music of Peter Graham - not that any of my contemporaries remain, the last having moved on to pastures new within the past few months. 

It is also opportune to reflect on some of the changes over the interim period: during my time with the band, there seemed to be very little contact between the worlds of the brass band and military music-making, although there were several of my colleagues who came from a brass band background.

Music-wise, there was very little cross-fertilisation regarding repertoire, mostly limited to the occasional "brass and reed" arrangement, intended to provide flexibility but in many cases proving less than satisfactory for either group.  When it came to new repertoire, most works of note seemed to come from the USA, and it has been good to see a recent growth in output from British composers, and works initially conceived for one medium being properly reworked for the other, with composers such as Philip Sparke, Kenneth Hesketh and Martin Ellerby being equally at home writing for either group.  On the evidence of this recording, and others by the Royal Norwegian Navy Band and the Royal Marines, then Peter Graham's name must be added to their number.

The presence of woodwind as well as brass offers the composer/arranger a wider range of tone colours, and the overall effect is often somewhat lighter, with flutes and oboes in particular not carrying the weight offered by the brass, although the flutes, piccolo and clarinets in their top register can certainly make their presence felt in the climaxes.

Peter Graham is the first civilian to be appointed as Composer-in-Residence with the Coldstream Guards, and they in their turn have been appointed Band in Residence at Salford.  The opening number, 'The Red Machine', takes its title from the band's nickname (not known in my day!) and is in effect a concerto for band, taking as its central theme the Lutheran hymn 'Ein Feste Burg', familiar to all Guard's musicians due to its use at the annual Queen's Birthday Parade in the troop march 'Les Huguenots'. 

The composer makes the most of the tone colours available to him, with prominent tuned percussion, french horns and euphonium.  In the quieter central section there is a feature that seems to be becoming something of a signature - a descending triplet figure - as if emphasising the calm and repose.  When 'Ein Feste Burg' returns in an imposing climax, it is decorated with scurrying woodwind phrases, again showing an arranger at ease with the forces in hand.

The 'Intrada on a theme by Tallis' was introduced at Regent Hall in its original brass form, at a talk the composer gave prior to the National Finals when 'Harrison's Dream' was the test piece.  The chords building up from the bass are very effective in this wind version, and much use is made of the contrast between the darker sounds of the woodwind and horns as opposed to the brightness of the cornets and trombones.

Since the appearance of 'Bravura' at the 2002 Gala Concert, where it featured four leading euphonium players, there have been a number of solo versions recorded, some featuring just a single euphonium line, and others using over-dubbing to present all four parts.  The version played here by John Storey was devised by Steven Mead and places many demands on the soloist in terms of agility and range, not to mention the problems in managing to make it musical despite the multi-tracking.  The soloist shows exemplary control across the whole range of the instrument, complete with a final, ringing top A.

The Maori melody 'Hine e Hine' has become very popular in recent years, and provides a welcome oasis of calm following the exertions of the euphonium solo.  There is some fine, warm, sustained playing around the band, with David Wright being featured on flugel horn (something again that never happened "in my day"!).

The brass version of 'Call of the Cossacks' consisted of five movements, and Peter has selected three of these to form the version for wind.  The 'Procession of the Tartars' opens in patrol style, with very busy writing for the clarinets: quite appropriate, since this movement features the Kletzmer folk song 'Fun Tashlach' and the clarinet plays a prominent role in Kletzmer music.  'Doyle's Lament' , as the title implies, was written to highlight the flugel playing of Black Dyke's John Doyle, but here it becomes a luscious solo for the alto saxophone of Martin Brooke - good to hear my old seat being filled by such an accomplished player!  Finally, the 'Cossack Wedding Dance' is a noisy celebration a la 'Fiddler on the Roof', with prominent percussion and woodwind trills.

Peter Graham describes the 'Elegy' from 'Harrison's Dream' as being the emotional core of the work, a memorial to the sailors whose loss in the wreck of the 'Association' in 1707 was to be the spur that drove John Harrison in his search for a timepiece accurate enough to enable the plotting of longitude when at sea.  The star of this short elegy is the french horn, and the piece works well in isolation, although it does seem a little on the short side.

'Shine as the light' is also a memorial piece, dedicated to the memory of Al Honsberger, a Salvation Army officer, friend of the composer, and tuba soloist with the New York Staff Band.  Based around Joy Webb's devotional song 'The Candle of the Lord' , and also featuring the chorus 'Walking in the light of God' and Chick Yuill's rousing 'The Light has come' , the opening ostinato sounds as if it was tailor-made to put the clarinet section throught their paces.  What I did miss in this version was the distinctive cornet solo rendition of the main melody, and the final section seems a little frenetic and slightly strained, testing the band's intonation to the full.  Nevertheless, this version seems destined to become as popular with wind groups as the brass version has.

The second solo presented in the programme is 'Whirlwind' , a lively number based on one of Peter's Salvation Army vocal pieces 'A Great Salvation' and featuring Richard Evans on cornet.  He shows admirable technique and fluidity of playing, and manages to make a technically demanding piece sound easy.  The accompaniment supports the soloist well without ever dominating.

'Alloway Tales' is given here without the narration, which can enhance the music, although it does present problems of balance.  Without the words, the music alone needs to set the scene and carry the narrative forward, and these sensitive performance do that quite succesfully.  The attempts of 'Duncan Gray' to woo and marry Maggie are illustrated by extracts from the bridal march, whilst 'Afton Water' , once more featuring the flugel horn, is particularly expressive.  When it come to the third movement, 'The De'ils awa wi th' Exciseman' , there is a real sense of fun apparent in both the writing and the playing, with its references to the 'Dies Irae' , as the villagers rejoice to see the taxman spirited away by the devil.

With 'Timepiece' comes a total contrast, as this quartet was commisioned by the 1994 Swiss Brass Quartet Championships.  Played here with trumpets rather than cornets, and french horn rather than tenor horn, its three continuous sections give ample opportunity for David Wright, Richard Evans, Nicholas Stones and John Storey to demonstrate their skills.  They blend well together and cope well with the challenges of chamber ensemble playing, making for a very enjoyable interlude, an idea which other bands could do well to adopt on occasion.

'Gaelforce' has been taken up by many bands since its appearance, and is possibly one of the most recorded items of more popular repertoire at present.  With the woodwind textures it does not seem quite as relentless as the brass version sometimes is and the percussion is not allowed tobe over-dominant.  The flugel solo in 'The Minstrel Boy' is contrasted with the woodwind choir, with the woodwind also taking the lead in 'Tossing the feathers' before the rest of the band join in the revelry.

When considering works that originate in one medium, it is easy to spend much of the time making comparisons, favourable or otherwise.  Possibly one of the greatest compliments about this recording is that you very soon start to accept each piece on its own merits.  There may be areas where the texture comes as a surprise at first, but the quality of the music-making shows through at all times.  Whether or not one is ordinarily a fan of the wind band, this is a disc well worth exploring, and it is to be hoped that Peter Graham will produce more original works for the band, who have been fortunate in the past to have had composers such as Laurie Johnson (of 'The Avengers' fame) associated with them. 

Peter Bale

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