Christmas Voices, Christmas Brass

Warrington Male Voice Choir and Pennine Brass
Russell Paterson and Ian Porthouse

Parr Hall, Warrington
Saturday 21st December 2002

The combination of Brass Bands and Choirs together can be as tasty as Roast Lamb and Mint Sauce, whatever the time of year, it's a mix that works well. Throughout the UK, these two sets of performers will be combining for something at Christmas time that is as traditional as Morecambe & Wise on the television on Christmas Day.

Warrington Male Voice Choir is one of England's premier choirs, and in recent years they have invited a number of bands to join in their Christmas celebrations, and this year asked Pennine Brass who played to an extremely high standard, which was not over the top in seasonal repertoire.

The men from Warrington had a choir of almost ninety on stage, and they commenced the evening with a trilogy of seasonal favourites. Regular prize winners at the Llangollen International Eisteddfod, they were in fine form under musical director Russell Paterson.

Lets not pull any punches, in banding terms, Warrington MVC would take the regionals by storm if they were a brass band, and they would be regular favourites for the Nationals, British Open & Masters championships. As in banding, the judges would have the final decision as to whether they carried off any silverware or not.

What can be said about Pennine Brass? Well, they were simply magnificent. Under Ian Porthouse, it is easy to see (and hear) why they have risen to Championship status in quick time. They are a well-disciplined outfit who appreciate that hard work has its rewards. The band got their part of the concert under way with 'Gaudete' that was made famous not too long ago by the Mediaevalbaebes. For many, the only carol they want to hear is 'Away in a Manger' and this was Pennine's next offering featuring flugel horn player, Rebecca Cunliffe. Rebecca is in her final year at the University of Salford, and she produced a lovely warm tone.

Peter Graham had arranged the previous carol, and it was a Graham offering that was next on the programme with the march Shining Star. It contains a number of traditional Christmas tunes and towards the end features 'O Come all ye Faithful' in a lively finale. If you had closed your eyes, it could have been a Salvation Army band as the tempo and style was terrific.

David Purkiss is a student in Birmingham, who has recently taken the principal cornet seat at Pennine. David is only 19 and played with an awful lot of maturity in the Ray Steadman-Allen arrangement of 'Someone Cares'. This is another young man whose progress will be watched with interest. The month of November plays host to the 'Brass in Concert' championships in Spennymoor. A regular contributor to the new arrangement category is Andrew Duncan. Mr Duncan took some music from the film the Last of the Mohicans and has arranged 'The Gael' and it closed Pennine's first spot. Once again we had some fine playing from the band.

One of the choir's most impressive moments was their rendition of 'The Creation' by Richter. At the end of October, the choir travelled to Ireland to compete in the Sligo Choral Festival and this was one of the pieces that helped them become International Male Voice Champions. If you have not heard a choir sing 'The Creation', then if you get the
opportunity to do so, take it. It is certainly stirring and emotive stuff and was worthy of inclusion in the evening's programme.

Pennine's second selection of music was just as impressive as their first. They commenced the slot in the second half with Finnegan's arrangement of the Prokofiev classic, Midnight Sleighride. Manger Musiklag is one Norway's premier brass bands. They asked Torstein Aagaard-Nilson to arrange a rock anthem by Frode Alnaes, entitled Vitae
Lux, which means the Light of Life. It begins with a cornet solo that on this occasion featured the youngest member of the band, Richard Wagstaff, and then the tune builds around the band. Special mention however must go to David Purkiss, and deputising soprano player, David Chadwick, who were both outstanding.

What is it about cornet players? Richard Evans, Philip McCann, Garry Cutt, Dr David King before conducting were all stalwarts of the instrument. Ian Porthouse is a distinguished cornet player and you can see when he is conducting the band that he has learnt from those he has played under. Ian conducts in a very relaxed manner and where movement and gestures need to be made, then so be it, otherwise, Ian keeps it simple, and like Messrs, Evans, McCann, Cutt & King, will no doubt go on to be a distinguished conductor in his own time.

Pennine's final soloist of the night was horn player, Laura Lea. Laura is a student at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and is obviously benefiting from the tutors around her. Like cornet player David Purkiss earlier in the evening, Laura is someone to look out for in the future. She chose Capriccio Brillante, by Bellstedt This was pure class, Laura expressed herself beautifully and gave the solo the chance to breathe.

Amateur music making can be tough and those that have financial support are the lucky ones. Ian Porthouse made a heart-felt plea to the audience for anyone that can help to come forward. Pennine Brass is looking for a sponsor and if you are reading this and can help, please contact any member of the band or visit their website
<http://www.penninebrass.co.uk/>www.penninebrass.co.uk

To conclude their solo part of the programme, the band chose to close with the Tone Poem by Eric Ball, 'Kingdom Triumphant'. This piece is considered to be one of the most important that Ball wrote. It was written for the Bandmasters Councils Festival, held at the Royal Albert Hall in 1962. It was premiered then by the ISB and was written with both band and the acoustic of the hall in mind, and Ball suggested that future performances should 'sound like an organ'. The subject matter, the judgement and the coming of Jesus Christ, is portrayed by three hymn tunes: The opening 'Vision of Judgement' by the 'Blast of the Trumpet', the remembrance of 'The First Advent' by 'O Come, O come, Immanual' and finally, 'The Vision of the Second Advent' by 'Lo, He comes with clouds descending'. As the piece came to a close, the band was certainly sounding like an organ, and they can be immensely proud of their performance.

After the final set of Christmas music from the choir, both band and choir joined together for a finale of an arrangement by Goff Richards, a German folk song 'Schneewalzer'. It was just total fun and frolics all the way
and both band and choir should be congratulated on the standard of their performances throughout the evening. They enjoyed working together so much, that discussions may take place between Warrington Male Voice Choir
and Pennine Brass for another 'Brass and Voices' evening.

Malcolm Wood

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