Pemberton Old Wigan Band

Conductor: Nick Sheppard

Formby Hall, Atherton
Sunday 18th May 2003

An appreciative and warm reception greeted the Pemberton Old Wigan Band under their resident conductor Nick Sheppard. Born and bred in Newport South Wales, Nick was introduced to brass bands by his father playing for the Rogerstone and went on to play for Marple, Leyland and Wingates on Soprano Cornet.

They began their concert in traditional style with the contest march ‘Honest Toil' from the pen of William Rimmer which will no doubt be heard a good few times in a couple of weeks time on Whit Friday. He was probably the most famous all conductors to lead the Pemberton Old Band and he penned another famous contest march ‘Punchinello' for the then principal cornet James Fairhurst. Good principal solo lines from Stephen Hyde, formerly of Wingates, and strong soprano playing from Chris Ratchford featured in a well-delivered opening account.

The rhapsody ‘Espana' from Emmanuel Chabrier followed and opened at a steady tempo. The music gave all sections opportunity to feature with good effect with fine dance rhythms before probably the highlight of the evening when Baritone Soloist Marrianne Cliffe stepped forward and played ‘Peace' by John Golland. From the opening lines she played with lovely tone and her clean playing and poise commanded attention. Wonderful.

The opening bells sounds, reflecting those of Westminster, were very good as a light orchestral mood was quite well captured. Only occasionally did moments of intonation spot the performance of ‘Westminster Waltz', one of Robert Farnon's, compositions synonymous with the early BBC Light programme.

‘Hot Toddy', a fifties composition from the Ted Heath band was the first of three pieces with a jazz flavour. Again Principal Cornet Stephen Hyde featured in an extended solo and the slick trombone playing with convincing easy style was most effective. The band continued in similar style as a cornet solo ‘Georgia On My Mind' by Hoagy Carmichael featured the talents of 2nd man down Bernard Lyons. An odd tweek crept in here and there but again the easy style gave the music a relaxed and enjoyable feel.

‘Think of Me' from the Lloyd Webber stage sensation Phantom of the Opera was comfortably executed with a particularly good opening flugel theme from Carina Halliwell, A full and warm ensemble sound took the piece forward and served the band well in this concert programme.

Mac & Mac transcribed as a Xylophone Solo showcased 14 year old Jenny Moore. This, arrangement of the cornet duet was simple but well played and this older music was given a different slant in this performance.

To conclude the band played the March from Symphony No 6 (Tchaikovsky arr. Howard Snell) A nice dynamic in this most challenging work. OK the odd clip but this very difficult richly coloured music was most exiting and brought the 1st half to a spectacular and gusty conclusion.

‘Fest Musik der Stadt Wien' (Richard Strauss) with its bold fanfare statements opened the second half very cleanly before another highlight in this programme with an arrangement of ‘First Time Ever I Saw Your Face' by Darroll Barry which perfectly captured the mood Alec Banks on Tenor Horn certainly did the piece justice with a quality solo.

The steppes of the Russian Tundra with ‘Russian Cavalry' arranged by Ray Woodfield changed the mood again and here once more the troms again did a sterling job. Not without an on unsettled moment or two from the horns & a sop scratch but nevertheless the mood of the music throughout this concert was well caught by the band.

‘Serenade for Toni', one Philip Sparke's gentle pieces precluded film music conveyed with power and drama. The chariot race sequence in the Roman Circus of the film Ben Hur is one of the most thrilling and famous in film history and in the ‘Parade of the Charioteers', from the pen of Miklos Rozsa, the band produced on of their best and dramatic performances of the night..

‘The Swan' (Saint Saens) has become a well featured solo for Euphonium and soloist Jamie Ogden gave a safe account before the band returned to the dance band style with ‘Cute' where again the band relaxed and carried the swing rhythms very well.

You'll Never Walk Alone arranged by Howard Snell was the final item and achieved the desired effect to round out a concert of pleasing and entertaining variety which are the hallmark of the Formby Hall series. Before they were allowed to savour a well-deserved pint, having undertaken three full engagements that day (busy busy!), they encored with striking panache playing ‘Under the Double Eagle'

John James

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