Although mitigating circumstances meant that a somewhat under-prepared and under-strength RNCM Brass Band took to the stage, there was still much to enjoy in an ambitious programme of four eclectically demanding works.

Led with well-defined direction by both Paul Cosh and Sam Hairsine there were noticeable moments of unease and fragility throughout, although to their credit the young players fully engaged with the music to produce performances of expression and understanding. 

Hypnotic feel

It opened with a welcome reprise of ‘Origenes’ by Columbian composer Carlos Cardenas - a work that made a bold impression when used as the set-test in the European Championship Challenge Section in Freiburg in 2015. 

The colourful textures and percussion effects brought its well-rooted African/Latin American stanchions to life - with the underlying rhythmic patterns and structures giving an almost hypnotic feel.

Ghostly atmosphere

It was followed by John McCabe’s sadly neglected ‘The Maunsell Forts’ - with its ghostly atmosphere shrouding the music in a miasma of unworldly intrigue. It is a masterful piece of writing - and an evocative contrast to the elemental landscapes of ‘Cloudcatcher Fells’ and ‘Desert II: Horizon’ heard the previous day.

Occasionally the linear flow rather stuttered, but the sympathetic conducting of Paul Cosh and the considered approach from the students still brought out its melancholic poignancy.

Mobidity and decay

There was certainly a sense of morbidity and decay about Paul McGhee’s sublimely creepy ‘Lullaby’ - the work that won him the 2012 European Composer Competition.  

Performed with lucidity, this was music as icy black and menacing as a shark’s eye - an incantation of aural death.

Ambergis and sandelwood

To close, the UK premiere of ‘Another World’s Hell’ by Simon Dobson via the pages of Aldous Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’.  This was music of the cabaret-noir - an infusion of scent and colour as well as melody and harmony, as the composer imagines a brass band version of ‘Calvin Stopes and 16 Sexophonists’ in concert at the Westminster Abbey Cabaret. 

It was heady stuff - and although we couldn’t quite sniff ‘ambergis and sandelwood’ in the air, we did get a feel for a musical future that the exciting originality of composers such as Dobson and McGhee are taking us towards. 

Hopefully it won’t be AD2540 before we hear it again. 

Iwan Fox