Yorkshire Building Society Band

Conductor: Dr David King

Uppermill Civic Hall
Saturday 16th November, 2002

The European Champions, Yorkshire Building Society, made the short journey to Uppermill, and under charismatic Principal Conductor, Dr David King, performed a programme of music of the highest quality. They opened the evening with Peter Graham's 'Prelude on Tallis'. Those familiar with Graham's Harrison's Dream, will identify that this music features the famous Tallis Cannon, and very cleverly encompasses some of the compositional Tallis sound that was featured in his major work. It is extremely lively and from the opening bars, you knew that the Huddersfield-based band were in good form.

The music of Leonard Bernstein is well known in the banding world, and YBS chose to play Three Dance Episodes from the suite 'On The Town' for their next offering. Ray Farr is not just an experienced conductor, but a wonderful arranger, and he has arranged yet another gem. The standard of the playing was exceptional with Stuart Lingard, Sheona White & Bob Blackburn, simply outstanding. The third dance episode featured some delightful playing from trombonist Simon Cowan. The jazz-style playing, was so laid-back, it was a joy to behold.The Lark in the Clear Air is one of those solos which can be heard on a variety of instruments. Principal cornetist, Stuart Lingard chose this arrangement by Eric Banks for his solo spot and his cornet playing was like the bird singing on a lovely summers day. We were then treated to three different offerings from the world of film. First up was the music of James Horner. Its amazing to think that over the past ten years, Mr Horner has written music for over a 100 films, and YBS chose an arrangement by Andy Duncan of the music from the film 'Titanic'. One of the key elements of any movie nowadays is the music, and in this arrangement, lasting just over eight minutes, we are reminded of all the moments that made it the hit it was in 1997. At some point over the Christmas period, it would be no surprise if the Wizard of Oz appeared on our television screens. One of the most popular songs in the film was sung by Judy Garland, and flugel player, Iwan Williams delighted the audience with his rendition of 'Over the Rainbow' arranged again by Ray Farr. Iwan is without doubt, one of the finest flugel players around today, and through his playing, it was sung beautifully. Their final offering from the world of the movies was a Selection from Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Once again, YBS demonstrated whatever the style of music is being performed, the standard of playing is superb.

The third soloist to come centre-stage was that 'voice of the tenor horn' , Sheona White. In an arrangement by Sandy Smith, Sheona was simply brilliant in Bellstedt's Capriccio Brilliante' Goodness knows how many notes were in there, but the skill of anyone who is successful in life is to make it look (and sound) so easy, and Sheona certainly did that. Kenneth Downie has worked very closely with YBS & Dr King in recent years, giving the band many compositions. Spirit of Celebration has been used by the band to open their concerts, and more often than not, you'll hear Mr Downie's stunning 'Dance Fever' which features the English Country Dance 'The Dashing White Sergeant'. To close their first half, YBS, 'danced' away and displayed their virtuosity at its best, with each section taking part in the fun.

Brass band concerts just would not be the same without a march and YBS chose to play one of the Whit-Friday favourites 'Mephistopheles' by Shipley Douglas. The music of Ray Farr was heard once again in an arrangement of Leoncavallo's tenor aria, Vesti la Giubba' from his opera, 'Pagliacci'. This solo is one of many show pieces for Soprano cornetist, Peter Roberts. With every note in his head, Peter simply brought the house down, (as he so often does) with an astonishing performance of this solo, which read in English simply means 'On with the Motley'. The pace continued to be lively when it was back to 'songs from the shows', in the Goff Richards arrangement of 'Breezin' down Broadway', with hits such as 'I'm getting married in the Morning', 'Oklahoma', 'Another Opening, Another Show', being performed in a very polished manner by David King and his troops.

The names of George Petrie & Jane Ross are probably not immediately familiar to many of us. It was in fact, George Petrie, who gave the "Londonderry Air" its title in his compendium of Irish Music, the Ancient Music of Ireland, which was published in 1855. The melody was supplied to Petrie by Jane Ross. She was a lady who had a large collection of unpublished melodies from the county of Londonderry and had given them to Mr Petrie. To this day, 'Danny Boy' or Londonderry Air, is one of the most beautiful tunes, whether sung or played on a musical instrument. Simon Cowan chose to perform Bill Geldard's arrangement and as in the third dance episode from earlier in the evening, it was a smooth, silky sound which Simon produced.

Adrian Drover has written a tremendous amount of music for the brass band. 'Aye Waukin O' and 'Ye Banks and Braes' are featured on the CD 'Cry of the Celts', but YBS took another Scottish tune, 'Reel McCoy' for the next offering. Anyone who don's traditional scottish dress this hogmanay will no doubt be dancing away to this very fine tune. The music of Kenneth Downie re-appeared with the delightful 'In Perfect Peace'. As the title suggests, it is peaceful music, and we heard some beautiful ensemble playing throughout the band. The evening had been compered by ex-Fairey's man and the voice of BBC GMR Brass, John Maines. Throughout the night, Mr Maines offered plenty of information on the band, soloists' and the music. Quite often, he would ask David King to give the audience his own thoughts on the music being played, and between them, they built up a nice rapport which had the odd touch of comedy. Comedy was on the agenda for the evening's final soloist, Principal Euphonium player, Michael Howley. Philip Sparke wrote the solo 'Pantomine' for Nicholas Childs a few years ago, and it is now a firm favourite amongst euphonium players. Its not the easiest of solo's, but like all the other evening's soloists before him, Michael demonstrated what a fine player he is.

To produce music-making to the YBS standard, you have to be extremely talented and dedicated musicians. This is the case as we all know, but it does help when you have a conductor the calibre of Dr David King. Throughout the concert, the energy that was transmitted from Dr King to the band was extraordinary, and this was never more evident than in the band's finale. At the Gala Concert at the European Championships earlier in the year, the band premiered Hymn of the Highlands, written by Philip Sparke. From start-to-finish, it lasts some thirty-five minutes, and we were treated to 'Dundonnell' which brings the whole suite to a close. Each movement is named after a location in Northern Scotland. In its embryonic stages, the bagpipe tune 'Highland Cathedral' is heard in Ardross Castle and this returns in cycles at the end of Dundonnell. One of the key elements of the music and particularly in this performance, is the tremendous sound made by the band. Dr King pulled every ounce of energy from the musicians in front of him, and the effect was simply terrific.

As you would expect, the band received a rapturous ovation, and for an encore, the audience were given the choice from Dr King. In the end, it was Looney Tunes all the way, with more cartoon capers in an arrangement by Andrew Duncan of music from The Flintstones, Pink Panther and The Simpsons.amongst others entitled 'Cartoon Classics'. It brought to an end, another magnificent concert by the YBS, who are simply an outstanding group of musicians.

Malcolm Wood

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