A Light in Heaven's Window
14-Jan-2006
David Daws (Cornet)
Accompanied by Stephen Hopkins (Piano)
Triumphonic Productions: TRCD 1082
Total playing time: 51.48 mins
Formerly Principal Cornet with Enfield Citadel Band and the International Staff Band, and currently occupying the top seat at Hendon, the name of David Daws will be familiar to most readers.
Over the years he has shown himself as eminently capable when it comes to the fireworks sometimes demanded of the cornet player, but above all he has built up a reputation due to his finely controlled, lyrical playing. In his latest recording, produced in conjunction with a new album of largely devotional solos, he is able to add to that reputation, with his clear, pure tone ringing out all the more due to the absence of a band accompaniment.
He is ably supported by pianist Stephen Hopkins, also from the Hendon Corps, who acquits himself admirably, despite admitting at the recent British Open that he felt a little overwhelmed by the project, saying that a couple of weeks beforehand he had considered backing out! Included with David's cd is a recording of the accompaniments alone, and it is quite illuminating to listen without the solo line, and to note the many little nuances that are easily missed when the soloist is present.
As already stated, the music is mainly devotional in nature, including several arrangements of contemporary worship tunes, both from within The Salvation Army and the wider church fellowship. Many of the composers/arrangers are well-known in banding circles on both sides of the Atlantic, with some of the items being transcriptions of previous versions available with band accompaniment. The attractive insert includes the words of all the choruses featured, and the playing has been well recorded by B & H Sound.
William Himes, bandmaster of the Chicago Staff Band, also has a number of vocal items to his name, including "All that I am", that has become well-used in recent years. The setting by Gerry Shoults only uses the chorus itself and not the verses that were added later on. The simple melody contains a number of sequences that could sound a little dull in repetition, but the subtlety of David's playing means that the phrases come up fresh each time. No extremes of register or great demands on playing technique, but a masterly display of slow-melody playing.
Andrew Mackereth wrote "I surrender all" for the flugel player of the Amsterdam Staff Band, and has provided the piano transcription himself. Based on a melody by David Chaulk, he also incorporates the more traditional tune, and there is some effective interplay between soloist and accompanist. David makes light of the semiquaver passages, playing them smoothly and, at a somewhat slower tempo than that marked, allowing the music plenty of room to breathe
The name of Graham Kendrick is prominent in modern hymn-writing, often featuring at least once in the Songs of Praise Top Ten Hymns. "Knowing you" has appeared in several versions previously, and here receives a thoughtful treatment from Stephen Bulla, arranger to the US Marines Band and founder member of the group Spiritual to the Bone. The decoration of the melodic line, that could sound a little stilted in the hands of a less accomplished player, here sound quite natural, and the couple of sweeping runs are neatly tucked in.
Matt Redman wrote "The heart of worship" in response to a trying time in his church: having felt that music itself was being seen as the be-all and end-all, he wrote "I'm coming back to the heart of worship". Dorothy Gates has caught the questioning nature of the song well, and incorporates a reference toward the end to the chorus "Silently now I wait for thee".
The current General of the Salvation Army, John Larsson, is perhaps best known in the wider musical sphere for his musical theatre collaborations with General John Gowans, but he has also set a number of songs to words penned by his mother, Flora Larsson. "A light in heaven's window" was written for women's voices, and was, incidentally, a favourite of Songster Leader Vic Handscombe of Cambridge Heath, a noted cornet soloist in his day. The arrangement here, by Terry Camsey, also includes the tune "My home is in heaven", as featured in Stephen Bulla's cornet solo "Heavenbound".
In additional to his own original vocal compositions, Len Ballantine is quite adept at adapting the works of other composers. "Somebody prayed for me" has a relaxed, laid-back feel to it, and shows David's control and clear tone below the stave, before changing key and presenting him with a run up to a D, carried off equally impressively.
Peter Ayling was often featured as piano soloist during his time with the International Staff Band, frequently improvising on a couple of choruses chosen on the spur of the moment. "Lord, with my all I part" presents the theme simply, following an introduction oddly reminiscent of that to "Moon River". Interestingly, David keeps to the melodic line throughout, eschewing the more florid option in the repeat.
William Himes wrote "So glad!" for flugel and band, although it has been performed on various other instruments, including, clarinet, alto and tenor sax and trombone. The piano reduction has been made by Peter Graham and David plays an elaboration of the solo line (written out in full as an option in the sheet music). To this reviewer, David does not really sound comfortable with this style of music and, accomplished as the playing is, if anything it comes across as too precise, with the articulation making it sound more like a technical exercise that an extemporised expression of joy.
Toronto-born Douglas Court has contributed many items to both band and solo repertoire, and currently is involved with James Curnow in Curnow Music. "Give thanks" (which to the uninitiated starts off remarkably like The Pet Shop Boys'"Go west!") is a paean of praise that builds up from its opening as the words go on to outline some of the reasons for giving thanks – the weak becoming strong, the poor becoming rich. Adding decoration to the melodic line as the solo develops, what strikes one here is the clarity of David's tone on the sustained notes towards the end, held without a waver.
The Irish tune "Slane" receives a celtic-tinged treatment from Belfast-born Dorothy Gates, the tune being left to speak for itself over a largely static, chordal accompaniment, with the occasional use of grace notes adding a touch of local colour. She also maintains the traditional rhythm, rather than the more syncopated version that sometimes accompanies these words.
As well as having been a fine euphonium player, Thomas Mack has also undertaken the leadership of the New York Staff Band's Male Chorus. Based on one of his vocal settings, "Peace like a River" leaves the vocal line virtually unaltered, including the uplifting change of key, with a reflective coda at the end.
Brighton-based Michael Babb has provided an arrangement of "Love Cannot Fail", from the Gowans/Larsson musical "Spirit". It is a song of aspiration and commitment, and receives an aptly heroic performance from David, from the reflection of the opening bars through to the confident affirmation enshrined in the title of the song. For the middle section, Michael has provided an effective obbligato as the accompaniment continues with the theme.
The Maori melody recorded here with the title of "Search me, O God" will be more familiar to many as "Now is the hour". The words of J. Edwin Orr have been associated with this melody for many years, and Ray Steadman-Allen's masterful setting reveals his own mastery of the keyboard, never over-powering the melody but providing harmonic and rhythmic interest throughout. The flowing quavers in the melodic line following the change of key are beautifully smooth, with the dynamics being well controlled.
Then follows another Graham Kendrick tune: "Such love" has been effectively featured as a piano solo with band accompaniment by Richard Phillips, but here comes in a version by Ralph Pearce which interpolates the song "O ‘twas love, ‘twas wondrous love".
The final tune, "Voice of Grace", arranged by Andrew Garcia, flugel player in the New York Staff Band, uses the chorus "I'll follow thee, of life the giver", so memorably used in Les Condon's "The Present Age", where it is cut off in mid-stream. After a 3/4 introduction, the melody is kept moving, with no undue sentimentality, with the cornet embellishing the tune after the first verse, then stating the theme positively up the octave, before closing with a note sustained across the last six bars.
The recording overall, although offering a short running time, should provide much enjoyment, as well as something of a master class in lyrical cornet-playing. With the accompaniment disc provided, anyone wanting to try the solos out for themselves just has to buy the sheet music – and find a pianist who is comfortable in some pretty extreme keys! Incidentally, "So Glad!" appears twice, once with the bass guitar and rhythm (dubbed in effectively by James Lawrence) and once without.
Peter Bale
What's on this CD?
1. All that I am, Himes arr Shoults 4.31
2. I surrender all, Mackereth 4.22
3. Knowing you, Bulla 2.25
4. The heart of worship, Gates 4.16
5. A light in heaven’s window, Camsey 3.14
6. Somebody prayed for me, Ballantine 3.06
7. Lord, with my all I part, Ayling 2.47
8. So glad! Himes, trs Graham 3.13
9. Give thanks, Court 3.59
10. Be thou my vision, Gates 2.27
11. Peace like a river, Mack 2.47
12. Love cannot fail, Babb 3.08
13. Search me, O God, Steadman-Allen 2.32
14. Such love, Pearce 4.13
15. Voice of grace, Garcia 3.51
Total playing time: 51.48 mins
