Black Dyke Band

Conductor: Dr Nicholas Childs

Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester
Sunday 6th April, 2003

Even before the first half had concluded, the audience at the RNCM in Manchester were left in no doubt that form is very much temporary and class is permanent. The 'form' (or should it be placing?) of Black Dyke raised a few eyebrows at the Yorkshire area, whereas their 'class' really shone through in a concert which gave something for everybody regardless of taste.

The first half was a tribute to Eric Ball and Dr Philip Wilby with the second half being much lighter in contrast, and perhaps suited more to the banding traditionalist. Dyke commenced the programme with the Ball march 'Star Lake' - written to celebrate a Salvation Army camp in USA, and immediately the crispness of the playing was being heard.

In a year when the brass band movement is paying tribute to Eric Ball, the opportunity is there to play some of his lesser heard music. One such piece is 'September Fantasy', composed for legendary tenor horn player, Gordon Higginbottom and first played in 1976, only one month after the completion of the score. Black Dyke's Soloist, Lesley Howie, took the music really to heart and brought out a real sense of feeling and understanding of Ball's scoring. The highest compliment that can be paid is that Mr Higginbottom would have been proud to produce a performance of such quality

The final Eric Ball offering of the night was his Sinfonietta for Brass Band ‘The Wayfarer'. The piece was written, not as a test piece, but to conclude The Gala Concert after the Nationals in 1976. It has been said that the piece depicts Ball's life. The piece although played continuously is in three parts: Adventure, Exile and Homeward Journey. This performance was a real joy to behold with some lovely work from Ben Rapp, deputising for Principal Cornet, Roger Webster, Michelle Ibbotson, Lesley Howie and John Doyle on flugel. As the piece unfolded, you got a sense of real feeling of some of the challenges throughout Eric Ball's years and how they might have affected him. With playing of this quality, the forthcoming CD by Dyke of Ball's music will be eagerly awaited by many.

Euphonium player David Thornton needs no introduction and he was the centre-of-attention in Dr Philip Wilby's ‘Flight', which was commissioned by Yamaha. David gave a real master class in the art of euphonium playing with this performance. His control of the instrument was second-to-none. It does not matter whether its a romantic ballad, jazz, or something like Vivaldi's Four Seasons, music quite often challenges the listener to visualise what is happening as the music comes alive. Dr Wilby's ‘Flight' fits into this category as word pictures are created with all types of flight going on throughout the piece. In addition, the title also refers to the range and difficulty of the solo itself and every credit to Mr Thornton for making something extremely complex and challenging, sound so easy.

The first half concluded with the piece de resistance of the whole concert, Wilby's Paginini Variations. Commissioned by the BBC for Grimethorpe in 1991, it was used as the British Open Test piece in the Free Trade Hall later that year. It has of course, become a real favourite for bands and audiences alike and Black Dyke did not disappoint a large audience with a wonderful reading under Dr Childs. It really was edge of your seat stuff, as right from the opening bars, the audience became absorbed right into the heart of the music.

It had everything from some wonderful work from the cornet section, in its embryonic stages, to some delightful sounds in the middle and bass end throughout. Much of Wilby's major works for band challenge the soloists and in Paginini the flugel horn gets the chance to really shine. John Doyle gave a demonstration to anyone in the hall who might be faced with the same solo at the forthcoming Senior Cup at Blackpool in May. It was lovely on the ear and in-tune with the exciting performance being given by the band. It was no wonder that at the end of the performance the audience burst into rapturous applause, as the performance really was in a class of its own.

After a much need breather, the brass band-in residence at the RNCM commenced the second half with a lively rendition of Bach's Toccata in D Minor, arranged for band by Ray Farr. The music of The Beatles is legendary and for many, there has never been a musical group like them since. Black Dyke have just released a CD of Beatles music, so no wonder that we were to be treated to classic hits such as Yellow Submarine, Yesterday and Lady Madonna. The ‘set' was linked by a voice over by conductor, Nicholas Childs, and this was where the only blemish of the night occurred. There was nothing wrong with what was being said, but it was a touch difficult to hear what Dr Childs was saying as the band played in the background. Why so loud? The volume of the band was a touch OTT as the audience was given some background on the tunes.

One of the key ingredients to a Black Dyke concert is its ‘Soloist Showcase' section. It is the opportunity to hear some of the bands leading instrumentalists back-to-back. Hence, Brett Baker, John Doyle and Joseph Cook, took it in turns to demonstrate their skills to the audience. It is said, that Arthur Pryor wrote his only solo's when he was playing in Sousa's band, Thoughts of Love being amongst them. The Cheshire-based trombone player played his solo with consummate ease. John Doyle was having his legged pulled by Dr Childs as he has suffered a broken ankle, but that did not stop him producing a stunning performance of Children of Sanchez.

Monti's Czardas is one of those solos that can be played on a number of instruments. Bass Player, Joseph Cook polished it off with the odd touch of humour and then Black Dyke chose the music of Saint-Saens for its finale. Symphony number three is well known as ‘The Organ Symphony' and the Finale is a real tour-de-force for band, asking an awful lot in terms of stamina from the band. It was breathe-taking stuff and a wonderful way to bring (officially) the concert to a close. Before we left, we were treated to the circus march The Waltonian by JJ Richards, bringing to and another concert in the Festival of Brass Band Concerts at the RNCM.

Malcolm Wood

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