The appearance of Cory at this festival over the years has always been a musical highlight - and once again the Welsh band left an appreciative audience well satisfied with its substantive contribution.

An eclectic collection of repertoire made for an engaging concert, with Philip Harper’s filmatic 'Lionheart', bristling with energetic precision, making for a tasty, if lightweight, aperitif for what was to follow.

Delight

The 11 short dance movements of 'Ragtimes and Habaneras' was a delight - each a perfectly formed gem of constructive style; the remarkable invention that encompassed the diverse jazz elements brought together with such intuitive facility by a composer of almost limitless imagination - much of it with laced with dark, acerbic wit. 

It was delivered splendidly - the MD concentrating on balance and ensemble timbre, rather than tinkering with tempo or dynamic to create a highly seductive musical picture.   

Immense 

That was certainly the case with both soloist and band in Edward Gregson's 'Tuba Concerto', which James Gourlay has made his own over the years with performances of immense artistry.

Somehow he raised that bar to new levels of brilliance in a performance of incredible virtuosity; the developing sense of rhythmic purpose in the first movement played with such clarity and control, whilst the restrained, almost melancholic cantabile melody in the second, shimmering with emotional intensity. The finale was simply triumphant.  It really was a wowee performance. 

Elegant

Robert Saxton’s elegant ‘Sonata for Brass Band’, inspired by the music of Orlando Gibbons provided an interesting triptych contrast. There was delicacy as well as florid bombast in the playing with the MD once again allowing the music to find it natural pace and dynamic level.

Sense of loss

Paul Hindmarsh's arrangement of 'Lament 1915' by Frank Bridge was a poignant, reflective inclusion - the music inspired by the infamous sinking of the Cunard liner Lusitania by a German war time submarine. Here the control and deliberate refinement of the playing was marked - the music seeping with a sense of loss.

Mischievous

Cory formally closed their programme with Elgar Howarth's mischievous 1975 British Open test piece, 'Fireworks' - complete with narration from S4C's Morgan Jones. 

It is a work that nowadays seems curiously dated - more a concert delight than a demanding contest leviathan - a joyful set of variations of light parody, irony and sardonic fun. 

It was also played as such, making the encore of ‘Calon Lan’ sounding on this occasion, somewhat unnecessary. 

Malcolm Wood