Debut

Joe Cook doesn't want the tuba to be the musical clown, so has he made sure the red noses and big shoes are hidden away with his Debut release?

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Joseph Cook
Black Dyke Band
Conductor: Dr Nicholas Childs
Doyen Recordings: CD249
Total Playing Time: 67.43 

Joe Cook wants to shake off a stereotype; the tuba as the clown of western musical instruments. 

So has he managed to get rid of the white face paint and Pagliacci hat, or has he just hidden the red nose, deep trouser pockets and size 25 shoes for another day?

It’s a pity in fact that he had to make the statement at all, as the evidence of this release is of a serious performer, playing very serious music, seriously well. There is nothing remotely funny about any of it from start to finish.

Brave debut

It is also a very brave debut release too. No novelty showcase numbers, lollipop solos or insubstantial copycat efforts to mimic other instruments either (a bass rendition of Monti’s ‘Czardas’ is always going to be a comedy item however well you play it). Here we get four substantial works for the instrument written by four substantive composers.

By all accounts Ralph Vaughan Williams liked to eat the odd banana in bed of a night, but you can be sure he never once threw the skin on the floor to gain a cheap laugh at his wife’s expense by making her slip backside over tip on it in her nightgown.  Who needs comedy when you can write a quite beautiful piece like his ‘Tuba Concerto’ to put a self satisfied smile on the stoniest face.

The work may now be over half a century old, and whilst the technical hurdles are perhaps not the highest in the tuba repertoire, the musical ones are still precariously positioned, in reach of only the most competent performer. 

Subtle wit

Even the engaging ‘Capriccio’ by Rodney Newton, a composer with an acutely developed sense of subtle wit that would put PG Woodhouse to shame, is a piece of intense musicality, richly lyrical and romantic.

As with the Vaughan Williams, it is the mature musicality of the writing that tests the performer to the limit here, and Cook grasps the opportunity to do just that.

Subdued account

Edward Gregson’s ‘Tuba Concerto’ is a major landmark of seriousness too. Now over 30 years old it has become a benchmark of soloistic competence, a work only the most committed and talented performer can convey successfully in the manner in which it was intended.

Here the soloist delivers a rather subdued account, perhaps with too much emphasis on the academic in approach, leaving the listener to feel rather uninvolved in the performance.

That just leaves Philip Wilby’s ‘Cyrano’, a two part work that takes its inspiration from the semi autobiographical work of Cyrano de Bergerac, later turned into the famous play by Edmond Rostand and the even more famous films – the most authentic seeing the hero portrayed by the French actor Gerard Depardieu. 

Misconception

The essential misconception of the protagonist is that he is a figure of fun, a comedy creation of buffoonery and loveable slapstick, to be pitied and indulged (something that was apparent when the solo was premiered the Northern Brass Arts Festival, where the lack of an explanatory introduction by the compare did the soloist a huge disservice).

Nothing can of course be further from the truth, for as much as his physical appearance may cause the usual titters of prejudiced laughter, his intellect and nobility is in fact what turns him into a tragic romantic hero.

Wilby’s appreciation of his true depth of character is expertly portrayed, and whilst we do get the obligatory balcony scene when Cyrano feeds poetic love lines to the hapless Christian, the poignant nature of the verbal billet doux exchanges are never lost in search of a cheap laugh. The pathos is tangible as is the sense of swashbuckling bravado in the final movement.

Finely tuned performance

It is a finely tuned performance, with a neat sense of style and execution that not only brings out the romantic inclinations of the central character but also his more dangerous ones too, without ever making him into a Falstaff figure of malevolent priggishness.

Engaging

Throughout the entire recording the soloist is an engaging solo voice, although his is a lightweight tuba sound that seems ideally suited to the brass band. In fact it is a true bass sound that he displays with remarkable dexterity rather than the heavier darker hued sonority that is the province of orchestral tuba performers.  

Black Dyke accompany with sympathetic aplomb, never submerging the soloist even during heavily scored accompaniment. With excellent sleeve notes and post production values it is a debut to be proud of in fact.

Let’s hope Mr Cook can now confine those musical clown outfits to the odd appearance at the annual Black Dyke fancy dress party.

Iwan Fox

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