National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain

Musical and Artistic Director: Elgar Howarth
Guest Conductors:
Dr. Roy Newsome, Arthur Butterworth and Geoffrey Brand
Associate Conductors:
Nicholas Childs and Garry Cutt.
Compere: John Maines

St. George’s Hall, Bradford
Saturday, 30th March, 2

Easter, 1952 saw the birth of the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain. Founded by Dr. Denis Wright OBE, it welcomed 90 young brass players all under the age of 19 from every corner of the country to its first course, at Thornton Grammar School, Bradford. From the first inaugural rehearsal on 12th April, 1952 this remarkable ensemble has continued to impress and delight their audiences for 50 glorious years. For their ‘Golden Jubilee Concert' the band returned to Bradford and the magnificent surroundings of St. George's Hall.

The week long course that preceded the concert was hindered right from the start, when on the Monday thieves stole mobile phones, compact disc players and wallets from the bedrooms used by the players at the Woodhouse Grove School. Said Philip Biggs, "This is dreadful, the band are in a state of shock. We have travelled all around the country on various courses and have never encountered anything like this before". The players soon settled down into their rehearsal schedules and, by all accounts, thoroughly enjoyed the course.

The concert opened with a tribute to the Queen Mother. For those of us who had been travelling to Bradford since midday and also members of the audience who had not heard the news, this announcement came as quite a shock. The Band and audience stood for a minute's silence to show their respect, and the band opened with a rather solemn rendition of God Save the Queen, which was understandable due to the circumstances.

The 50th Anniversary concert programme obviously had to begin by paying homage to the NYBB's founder Dr. Denis Wright. He produced many great works for brass band and his "Tam O'Shanter's Ride", which warns about the temptations and evils of strong liquor, was chosen for tonight's opening work. Not that any of the band members had sneaked off during the week after ‘lights out' for a swift half down at the local!

The Band took a little time to settle into this difficult music, with one or two split entries dotted around the band. But the nerves soon disappeared and it was evident that this 78 piece band had been finely ‘tuned' by the course tutors and that the soloists had been rightly positioned on the end chairs. Special mention must go to the trombone section, who John Maines, our superb compere for the evening, had assured us, were not under the influence of strong drink. Fittingly, the opening piece was conducted by Roy Newsome, Denis Wright's biographer and NYBB's longest serving musical director.

The distinguished composer Arthur Butterworth, another past musical director of the NYBB, wrote the next item, "Passacaglia on a Theme by Brahms". It is based on the theme Brahms used as the ‘ground' for the last movement of his 4th Symphony.

From the opening bars it was now evident that we were listening to a class act. A beautifully warm bass section, a solo euphonium with a terrific sound, a fantastic principal cornet player and a young lad on soprano who was more than comfortable playing above the ledger lines added to a wonderful rendition of this difficult music. Although the band coped very well, in a performance conducted and directed by the composer, this listener felt that the band did not really enjoy playing this particular choice of repertoire.

No sooner had the applause died down, the first soloist had appeared to give a stunning rendition of Dr. Dennis Wright's most famous work, his "Cornet Concerto", conducted on this occasion by the NYBB's Artistic Director Elgar Howarth.

Martin Winter was the guest soloist and what a perfect choice. His playing was absolute perfection. The Band was also in good form and accompanied Martin with some fine, mature ensemble playing. To hear this beautiful cornet sound, above and below the stave, (take note all you budding cornet players) the subtle use of vibrato and dynamics in the second movement and the technical elements of the third movement was an absolute delight. During the breathtaking cadenza (with accompaniment from the local church bells), you could have literally heard a pin drop – he continued with such professionalism that it is no wonder he now holds the prestigious position of Principal Trumpet with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. It was also noted during this cadenza that a supply of cough sweets issued with the programmes would have been appreciated!

To bring the first half of this 50th Anniversary Concert to a close, another former musical director of the NYBB, Geoffrey Brand, took to the podium to conduct Gilbert Vinter's fiendishly difficult "Spectrum". Although written in 1969 it still appeared fresh, with its pungent harmonies, sparkling orchestration, and driving rhythms.

From the first semi quaver runs to the stunning fortissimo in the opening few bars it was obvious that the band were thoroughly enjoying the challenge of this music and were now showing signs of maturity well beyond their years. Although there was the odd wrong entry in the more difficult rhythmic passages, they all coped admirably and congratulations again must go to all the soloists.

The second half opened with yet another change of conductor. Associate Conductor Nick Childs led the band in a rather fast, but enjoyable performance of Saint-Saëns, "French Military March". All sections of the band again proved themselves more than capable of producing some fine ensemble playing, and with good attention to dynamics, the music remained fresh and exciting right to the very end.

A change of mood and yet another change of conductor followed with the second Associate Conductor, Garry Cutt taking the stage in Gordon Langford's sensitive arrangement of Fauré's, "Pavane". With a subtle change of seating arrangements for the bass section the music was narrowed down to the smallest ensemble of the evening.

Garry conducted this music with so much passion and control that the band responded to his every move. This piece certainly showed off the quieter sounds of the band and, although there were some minor intonation problems, still proved to be once of the most popular pieces of the evening.

That was until the second soloist appeared.

Ian Bousfield, in my opinion, is probably the best trombone player of his generation in the world, and he certainly delighted the band and audience in his breathtaking rendition of Arthur Prior's famous, "Bluebells of Scotland". From the opening bars it was obviously going to be that little bit special, with plenty of high jinks between soloist, band and conductor.

All the variations were played to the highest standard with the emphasis definitely being on entertainment. And then the moment we had all been waiting for, the last variation. I had been tipped off in the interval that it was going to be taken very fast, but this performance had to be heard to be believed. I timed it at approximately crotchet equals 196!

Before his encore he commented that he has played 20 minute concerto's with less notes in, but was also full of praise for the youngsters of the band who had managed to keep up with him!

To change the mood Ian selected Bill Geldard's fine arrangement of, "Autumn Leaves" for a much-appreciated encore and again, the NYBB settled into the style of this lovely arrangement with definite ease.

To end this wonderful evening of music making, Elgar Howarth and the NYBB played us out with Howarths' own composition, "Fireworks".

Having been written in 1974 for the British Open Championships it caused quite a stir at the time, but the boys and girls of the NYBB played a very convincing performance. Again the soloists, particularly the percussion section, proved to be on great form with the young soprano player sounding as fresh as he did at the beginning of the concert. The rest of the band however did sound as though they were starting to show signs of fatigue, not surprisingly so after such a heavy programme for such a young band.

An encore was promised by John Maines and the audience did not go away disappointed. After delving deep into the NYBB's archives library the most suitable encore for this 50th Anniversary Concert was the first piece they played at their inaugural concert way back in 1952, a superb, but rarely heard march written by Herbert Hawley entitled, "On Your Way". A fine choice, played with plenty of enthusiasm, to end a very enjoyable concert.

The programme had been very well planned and gave the youngsters the opportunity to play traditional Brass Band music they might not normally encounter in their own band rooms.

May I congratulate every member of the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain for a superb evening's entertainment. Long may it continue.

Roger Thorne

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