Black Dyke Band

Conductor: Dr. Nicholas Childs
St. David’s Hall
Cardiff
Saturday 27th January

Just 24 hours after their performance at the RNCM Festival of Brass, Black Dyke made the trip down the M5 to South Wales where they were making their regular biannual appearance at the Rotary Club of Cardiff's Charity Chest event.

After the exhausting programme of the Friday in Manchester this was lighter fare, although it was still rather like the musical equivalent of running an Olympic marathon one day then being asked to go for 10,000 meter run the next. Unlike Paula Radcliffe the results were very much more successful.

Over 1,600 Rotarians, band supporters and general brass band lovers had made the pilgrimage to the hall that has twice held the European Brass Band Championships in the past, and although the venue is now slightly dated in design (the spectacular anthropomorphic Millennium Centre squats menacingly on the artistic horizon) it still provides a wonderful receptive acoustic for brass.

As always, the band and its Welsh conductor (you can take the boyo out of Wales but you can't take Wales out of the boyo – the MD is still a very proud Celt) received warm applause as they took to the stage with the famous old British Open Trophy gleaming at the edge of the platform.

For the second time in two days (and the fifth time for 4BR in a week) they opened with Paul Lovatt-Cooper's ‘Where Eagles Sing' – a tremendous opener that is fast becoming the ‘Irish Blessing' of the 21st century - although not one hopes, as quickly photocopied in band librarian's cupboard as that became – the lad deserves the royalties for his efforts.

With the lips nicely warmed up Dyke launched into ‘Le Corsair' where the rev counter was up in the red zone all the way as the band motored impressively to the huge ending. 

Arfon Owen was the first featured soloist of the night. This talented player has served a lengthy apprenticeship on the horn bench at Dyke for a little while now but showed here that he has more than stepped up to the mark in claiming the solo horn chair for himself with a tasty performance of Hohne's ‘Slavische Fantasie' despite a sticky first valve.

A bit of Norwegian repose with ‘Morning' from ‘Peer Gynt' revealed some lovely pastel shades and some exquisite soprano playing from Peter Roberts who was on cracking ensemble form all night (and showed just how much he is back to top form after his denture problems of last year) before Richard Marshall set the temperature gauge to boiling point with a rip snorter on ‘Virtuosity' that must have parted the hairs on the heads of the first five rows in the hall.

To complete the first half, Dyke returned to ‘Vienna Nights' to deliver a performance of real backbone chilling brilliance. If they did suffer from some tiredness on the Friday night it was certainly not the case here, with a performance of almost frightening intensity of purpose and skill. All the soloists were on excellent form (with a special mention to the baritones who were top notch all night) and that guy on soprano again, who once more showcased his ability to add that touch of delicate sparkle when required, as well as the sledgehammer stuff. How other sops should take note. It rounded off a genuinely first rate first half, with more to follow. 

The second half began with a forceful ‘Fest Musik der Stadt Wien' before a world premiere of Paul Lovatt-Cooper's new composition aimed at youth, third and fourth section bands, ‘The Dark Side of the Moon' – which before you even ask has nothing to do with that boring piece of pretensions Pink Floyd nonsense so beloved of post pubescent spotty teenage boys and ever so boring middle aged soft rock types.

The piece was commissioned on the back of Dyke's last appearance here two years ago and is something of a musical portrait of the inquisitive question of -‘I wonder what that would be like?" In this case it is the other side of the old piece of cheese in sky and after the composer had taken the opportunity to explain all about it to the audience (which nearly lasted as long as the piece!) it revealed itself to be a real enjoyable romp; both upbeat and lyrical, very, very catchy as well as exciting as it moves from minor to major and finishes with a blast that wouldn't have been out of place on an old Saturn rocket booster. This will be played again, very soon, on a contest stage near you.

David Thornton displayed all his wares with a sublime piece of euphonium work in the ‘Devil's Duel' which saw him dispense with all the musical challengers that tried to upstage him in battle throughout the piece – you would have had to kill him with a stake through the heart you suspected such was his brilliance, whilst someone may have to check that he hasn't got cloven hooves instead of feet the next time he plays the piece like this.  Not even old Beelzebub could better this one suspects.

John Doyle also delivered a sublime bit of lyrical flugel work on ‘That'll Do' before Joseph Cook rounded off the familiar Dyke ‘Soloist Showcase' in fine style with a romp through the ageless old potboiler that is Monti's ‘Czardas'.  At the time of writing there is surely an indigenous Peruvian Indian doing his own arrangement for nose flute and band – it is a piece that has lasted on its last legs longer than a crippled centipede. 
 
Peter Graham's ‘Cartoon Music' was a neat musical diversion to feature the skills of the talented percussion team (although the music without the cartoon to go with it remains rather uninteresting), before a real foundation rumbler with the final item, ‘Entry of the Gods into Valhalla'. With the audience lapping it up there had to be an encore and with a touch of almost slapstick humour to go with some excellent technique ‘Riverdance' revealed plenty of Celtic verve and two dancers in John Doyle and Richard Marshall with two sets of daft legs between them that wriggled as if they had just had 20,000 volts stuck up their jacksy's.

It provided a great end to a really enjoyable evening's entertainment.

Iwan Fox.  

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