The YBS Band

Conductor: Professor David King
Morley Town Hall
Saturday November 18th

Listening to a concert by this ensemble is usually very rewarding as they blend tradition, innovation and musical excellence into their programmes. With a full hall and an expectant audience, YBS did so again.

The band chose music from Goff Richard's to open with his excellent ‘Voyage of Discovery', composed for the band's 2005 tour to Australia, and immediately their warm, well centered sound was evident with a solid bass section giving the band the foundation to express itself in the music. Dave King brings the music out of any piece you care to mention, indeed listening and watching him at times is pure theatre - and that's not a bad thing at all, especially as it seemed that YBS was really up for it on this particular night.

The first soloist we heard was Principal Cornet Stuart Lingard who played the traditional song ‘The Lark In The Clear Air'. Stuart has been one of the mainstays of the band and is a fine leader and soloist, and here his playing was well shaped with a nice solid cornet sound all backed up with some fine accompaniments from the band.

The Tom Cruise film ‘Far and Away' might not have been the greatest film produced but the music from it was enjoyable and in this arrangement of the John Williams score by Philip Harper we heard some fine lyrical ensemble work with the horns and flugel prominent and producing a wonderfully rich and sonorous tone. The audience loved it.
More music from the pen of Goff Richards in a piece entitled ‘Silver Mountain' gave us a perfect lesson in the art of tight compact playing, with the band producing some lush sounds, perfectly in control. It was a super piece of music, superbly played.

Gordon Langford has composed and arranged some fine pieces for band and in ‘Ilkley Moor' based on the famous Yorkshire song it gave all the sections of the band a chance to show their strengths, none more so than Claire Taylor on soprano. She was on top form all night, producing a lovely pure and sweet tone and she was in complete control especially topping off the cornet section sound. 

Sheona White is of course one of the finest tenor horn players we have in the movement and she chose to play the interesting ‘Concert Etude'. Superb control, rock solid technique and a lovely sense of musicianship she showed us the reason why she is held in such high regard. It really was a delight to hear playing of this quality.

The first half came to an end with a fine performance of the Berlioz Overture ‘Les Francs Juges'.  This music was the set test piece for the National finals a few weeks ago in which the band came third. A super opening was followed by some fine ensemble playing with the conductor extracting every ounce of music from the score. Claire Taylor was once more on tip top form and the drive towards the ultimate climax was simply thrilling. It was a fine ending to a excellent first half.

Four movements from Peter Graham's ‘Windows Of The World';  ‘Amazonia', ‘Rainforest', ‘Drums of Thunder' and ‘Earth Walk' all played with style and conviction opened the second half, and although this has been a mainstay of YBS in concert for some years now it still had a sense of vibrancy and freshness.

This was followed with music from ‘The Student Prince' in the Song made famous by Mario Lanza, ‘I'll Walk With God' – again a staple of YBS for some time, but still very well performed with the band and MD drawing every emotion out of this moving music.

Andrea Crossley then entertained us with a xylophone solo which she composed herself entitled ‘Highland Fling', which had a nice light and breezy feel. A talented musician indeed, and exciting stuff superbly played.

Robin Dewhurst's ‘Flight of the Wild Geese' from his ‘Celtic Suite'  produced some fine technique all round the band with the horn section once more producing a fine fulcrum for the band. There are not many top bands that have such a strong middle of the band sound, but it never overpowered.  

The last soloist on show was Steve Walsh on euphonium who gave a relaxed performance of ‘Summer Isle' from ‘Hymn Of The Highlands ‘. As with all the featured players on the night, Steve was on wonderful form and gave a flawless performance. It was excellent playing. 

Back to the music of Peter Graham in his very descriptive ‘Shine As The Light' in which once again the controlled sound of the band was evident throughout as it had been all evening. As an encore the band played its signature tune, the march ‘Keighley Moor' which rounded off a superb concert in really rousing fashion.                            
This had been a concert of the highest quality by a band that on its day is the equal of any in the world. Many of the items were staples of their concert repertoire, but they were played with a real sense of freshness and precision. All the players were on top form with a special mention to Claire Taylor on soprano who sounded as if she had been a stalwart of the band for years. MD and band deserved all the plaudits from an audience who left after concert that gave them all that they expected and more.


David Tinker

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