The Great Northern Spring Concert

Fodens Richardson Band
Conductor: Russell Gray
Guest Soloist: David Daws

Manchester Cathedral
Saturday 3rd May 2003

With the Great Northern Brass Arts Festival now firmly established within the banding calendar in early September, it is no surprise that Philip Biggs promoted this very first Spring Festival Concert. The stars for the night were the Fodens Richardson Band, under conductor Russell Gray.

Fodens commenced the concert with the un-programmed William Himes arrangement of Amazing Grace, the cornets walking in slowly from the back of the hall, before splitting themselves behind the trombones and the empty cornet seats respectively. The opening march was suitable for the surroundings of Manchester Cathedral, Walton's Crown Imperial. It was impressive and both band and conductor appeared to settle quite quickly to the acoustic.

Frank Wright has given the brass band movement some wonderful arrangements of overtures, many of which have been played countless times down the years. In 1959, Mr Wright arranged Lalo's Le Roi D'Ys for the National Championships in London won on that occasion by Black Dyke. Le Roi D'Ys is without question one of the all-time classics in the banding repertoire and Fodens gave a rip-roaring performance. It really was cracking stuff right from the beginning with some wonderful solo work by flugel Helen Fox. The centrepiece of the overture is of course, the euphonium solo and a challenge for soloists. On this occasion, Fodens' Glyn Williams was in great form as he produced a beautiful and extremely lyrical performance. With a demanding programme in front of the players, conductor Russell Gray resisted the temptation to take the tempo up a few notches towards the end, but that not detect from a wonderful rendition of the overture and it was clear by now that Fodens were in excellent form.

One of the key ingredients to the Great Northern Festivals is the ‘Guest Soloists' that are invited to perform. For this concert, David Daws, the renowned cornet virtuoso from within the Salvation Army, was to be accompanied by the Masters champions. It was a real honour to hear cornet playing to such a high standard.

David chose four solos – split either side of the interval. First up was ‘Golden Slippers' – a solo which David has made his own, and in fact takes the title of his latest CD. This really was a different class, and it gave David the opportunity to show not just his technically ‘wizardry' (to quote compere John Maines) but also how to play in the jazz idiom and play it well. A change in tempo came next with the Mark Freeh arrangement of the Raphael Mendez classic, Hedjre Kati – it was simply breathtaking.

After David's two solos it was a case of ‘follow that'. Conductor Russell Gray asked Rodney Newton to arrange Carmina Meo for the band having heard it in New Zealand. The music is taken as a feature for the whole of the trombone section and was led on this occasion by Brett Baker (deputising for John Barber) along with Paul Taylor & Garrath Beckwith. The three of them had some fun as they dished up this traditional number.

The first half concluded with music in the form of Leon Boellman's Suite Gothique arranged for brass band by Eric Ball. It was such a shame that we were only treated to two movements – Prayer a Notre-Dame and the infamous Toccata, but nevertheless, what we did here was terrific. In the Prayer of Notre-Dame, the arrangement calls for some delicate pianissimo playing and this is what we got – beautifully controlled and it really did hit the spot.

It didn't matter whether you were in Bergen, Blackpool or in Manchester on Saturday, the music of Dr Philip Wilby was very much on the menu. At the European's in Norway, offerings in the own choice section included Masquerade, Jazz and Revelation. In Blackpool, those doing battle in the Senior Cup tackled Paganini Variations. Fodens on the other hand, chose to open the second half of their concert with the finale from Wilby's Lowry Sketchbook. The music pays tribute to three paintings by the artist, the finale is entitled ‘Peel Park' (The Bandstand). The music focuses on the holiday scene and you certainly can picture anyone listening being entertained. This is composition that is truly stunning and it requires a performance of sheer virtuosity from the musicians. Not surprisingly, the reigning All-England Masters and NorthWest Area Champions polished it off without too much trouble.

After blowing the interval cobwebs away, a complete change in mood and most certainly volume, as memories came flooding back for many of Sunday nights in front of the television and BBC's drama, The Onedin Line. The series used as its theme tune the Adagio from Spartacus by Russian composer Khachtaturian. We might have had a change in mood and style, but the quality of the performance was like everything else throughout the evening, melodious and not OTT.

Paganini's Moto Perpetuo in banding terms was originally a duet for Robert & Nicholas Childs. It really is a fun piece and according to John Maines, has 2'248 notes in it. It struck home on Saturday that it's the kind of piece that any band could use in a concert to find a budding conductor. It moves so fast that anyone that could conduct it may well have a future as a MD. Fortunately, Russell Gray had no such problems in the lively Howard Snell arrangement.

David Daws reappeared for his second solo spot and began with one of the classic love songs ‘Loves Old Sweet Song'. David once again was making sure his cornet was ‘singing at twilight' with a beautiful rendition. David followed that up with Wondrous Day by Eric Leidzen and once again the audience (and musicians behind him) were left completely spellbound by David's beautiful tone and commandment of the instrument. As sure as night follows day, there was no way on earth David would leave the concert without an encore, and he chose music by a Salvationist colleague, Andrew Wainwright, entitled ‘Fill the World with Glory'. Once again, it was a virtuoso display. You can probably some up the standard of David's playing by the fact that behind David were some of the finest brass musicians around, and yet, they were thoroughly appreciative of what they were listening too. If you get the chance to hear David Daws in action, take it, it is an experience. Manchester will be hearing David again though in the autumn as he is billed to feature as the Guest Soloist at the Gala Concert with Black Dyke & Faireys at the Great Northern Brass Arts Festival in September.

Having had some beautiful solo playing, it was time for some wonderful musicianship from a quartet of players:Mark Wilkinson, Helen Fox, Janet Gilder and Glyn Williiams all featured in an arrangement by Howard Snell of Sweet & Low. It was as you would expect with four instrumentalists of this calibre, it was absolutely top draw and the thanks to the bass section also, as the music repeated second time round – delicate and delightful and a beautiful rounded bass sound.

To conclude the concert, Fodens and Russell Gray chose the Tone Poem by Eric Ball, ‘Kingdom Triumphant'. As with everything that had gone before it, this was an excellent performance, making the most of the acoustic in the Cathedral. Bach's organ music,"Toccata in D Minor" was used as an encore bringing to an end the first Great Northern Spring Concert. Organiser Philip Biggs confirmed to 4BR that another Spring Concert will take place in 2004.

As we know, Philip Biggs' Brass Festivals are always excellent value and without doubt, thanks to the Fodens Richardson Band, David Daws, compere John Maines, and the backing of World of Brass & BBC GMR, this venture was an overwhelming success.

^back to top