Night at the Proms

The Mill Creek Colliery Band
Conductor: Malcolm Forsyth

University of Alberta Convocation Hall, Edmonton, Canada
April 25th 2003

The promenade concert began with The Magic Flute: Overture by Mozart, which was full of riveting ups and downs, highs and lows in perfect harmony and a beautiful melody that really set the standard for the rest of the nights' repertoire. The catchy marching beats of the Royal Air Force March Past, written in 1917, were followed by Slavische Fantasie, a cornet solo, played by Joel Gray, which had a great gypsy flavour and sound with slow moving rhythms. The piece was very mellow and classic in style, combined with upbeat transitions of slow jazz reminiscent of earlier jazz scene sounds, and mixing in marching beat elements.

This was followed by A Moorside Suite, which according to the host, Jill Armitage, was written for a Brass band contest by Holst, (famous for his Planets' Suite) and gave brass bands legitimacy in music circles. This song was divided into three parts, the Scherzo, Nocturne, and March. The Nocturne was one of my favourite parts, started by Joel Gray, and included beautiful ballroom style slow melodic rhythms and sounds, beautiful deep clef and carried over notes, which then turned into the upbeat March parts which had excellent bass and cornet scales and added drumbeats to the composition.

This was followed by Riverdance, my favourite of the night. It included fast rapid beats and slow melodic transitions, and added innovative sounds of the xylophone, cornet and trumpet, which gave the song an "Uptown" vibe along with drums and the integration of sounds from the whole band that reminded me of an outdoor festival. Then the tune moved into the Riverdance tradition with Irish themes and the cornet players moving up the front of the stage, delivering very uplifting beats and wonderful cornet transitions. They repeated this after clapping from the crowd ceased, and everybody stood up while the band lifted the energy in the room. The ending was superb, mixing Riverdance with brass band sounds. The Interval followed.

The concert venue was the beautiful Old Arts building, with old fashioned architecture and a classical finish that was perfectly suited for the shining brass instruments and their players, and the night was set for an evening at the Proms.

The second half opened with Crown Imperial Coronation March by William Walton, written for the coronation of George the Sixth in 1937. This royal theme was high on bass and cornet, adding drum beats along the way. Scott Whetham, founder of the Mill Creek Colliery Band took the stage for a tuba solo; Bass in the Ballroom, which was very reminiscent of ballroom dancing sounds and tango beats. Some of the players really got into this song, swaying back and forth with the melody.

A popular piece in the Proms concert is the Fantasy on British Sea Songs, with many well known sailors shanty's such as "what shall we do with the drunken sailor?" and the "hornpipe", in which Malcolm Forsyth got everybody to join in clapping along, again raising the energy of the room and the crowd.

No Proms concert is complete without Pomp and Circumstance, Military March No.1, which included the song used most for graduations in North America, Land of Hope and Glory, sung by the audience and very suitable for the venue, the University Convocation Hall. It included cheerful pompous melodies and great cornet sounds as people stood up to sing the song and wave Union flags. This was one of the two pieces in which the crowd was asked to sing. The second of these was Jerusalem, which was first performed in 1916, and based on the poem by William Blake. The concert did not end there however, as the standing ovation the band received carried the show over into the last encore tune, Floral Dance, a very upbeat cheerful piece with lots of high notes and marvellous cornet and trombone playing, and a popular energy feeder for the crowd. The night ended on this note, and a standing ovation.

The annual promenade concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in England hold as their scope to present the widest possible range of music, performed to the highest standards, to large audiences. I felt that all of these elements were met and exceeded during the night, and that the band really captured the essence of the proms. I thoroughly enjoyed the concert because it presented a standard of professionalism mixed with pieces that anybody from all walks of life could enjoy. My friends were introduced into a new world of music and I didn't have to ask them if they enjoyed the concert, because it was apparent on their faces, foot tapping and humming of the tunes as we headed home.

Anna Rozwadowska

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