RNCM Brass Band

2007 RNCM Festival of Brass
Conductor: Christopher Houlding
Organist: Francesca Massey
Saturday 27th January

Saturday lunchtime's concert by the RNCM Band conducted by Christopher Houlding maintained the high standards that had been set the night before with Black Dyke.  Within the band are a number of players that are used to playing at the top level and performing a challenging programme is something that has become second nature to them.

The band had clearly worked hard on its programme since the Christmas break and they should be delighted with their level of performance on the day – they were a credit to themselves, let alone the RNCM for whom they were representing.

The RNCM opened up with what is only the second performance of Ray Steadman-Allen's ‘Chorales and Tangents' - music that made a huge impression on Paul Hindmarsh when he heard the original performance and which persuaded him to enable the piece to be performed at this Festival.  The composition itself is a set of movements based around the hymn tune ‘Moscow' and it would have been interesting to discover what was thought of the work when performed by the ISB in the 1970s.

The delightful ‘Chorale' (which is the third out of six segments) was wonderfully executed as was the organ solo that featured later and again within the final section, adding a touch of real grandeur to the performance.

Following the Steadaman-Allen work came two real highlight's, with ‘Miners' by Robin Walker and ‘Heed the Word' by Lucy Pankhurst.

For anyone growing up in the 1980s, the Miners Strike made a huge impact.   ‘Miners' takes inspiration from an early Wilfred Owen poem of the same name.  Whilst the poem was written in the war years of the early 1900s, the first performance back in 1994 by Grimethorpe at the Festival of Brass certainly enabled the listener to think back to the Miners strike and the struggle for which many endured.  The band really got inside the music during this performance and the second section in particular depicted a wonderful musical picture.

Lucy Pankhurst is a graduate at the RNCM and a talented musician who has recently joined the Wingates Band.  Not content with playing, Lucy is also a very talented composer and her ‘Heed the Word' was written for the Brass Band Aid CD in 2006 and is a terrific piece written in an African style with plenty of drumming and natural melodic lines. It certainly had impact on the day as the band clearly enjoyed the work and so did the audience. 

Mention most go to Andrew Lofthouse on soprano cornet, Thomas Hutchinson who led the band with such authority throughout on principal cornet and Sarah Watkins on flugel whose contributions added so much to this performance.

Whilst the music of Eric Ball needs no introduction at all, it was astonishing to learn that this performance of ‘Morning Rhapsody' was the first time some of the RNCM band had played his music. (What are we teaching our kids we here you cry!)

Written in 1949 it depicts that feel good factor that the rising of the sun brings during the spring and long summer days.  The scherzo section was an absolute delight with so much musical colour in evidence and it was a performance that showed that an understanding of Ball's music is essential for any young player who wishes to make a career in brass music. Ignoring his output should be made a criminal offence.

To close the concert, a real lip-sapping tour de force for the band with Robert Simpson's ‘The Four Temperaments' and it was clear that as with the other works, a lot of rehearsal time had been given in anticipation of this performance.

As the title suggests, it's a work of four movements: ‘Scherzo', ‘Intermezzo', ‘Elegy' and ‘Fantasia' and within a few bars, Simpson's style of writing is prominent with more than a nod and wink to the form of ‘Energy'.

The band coped admirably thoughout with some fine playing from around the stand and having been faced with a taxing programme, it was understandable that there was the odd the bit of tiredness towards the end where it just lost focus and precision.

It brought to an end though a fine and accomplished performance by the band and its conductor who can't be praised enough for their efforts.

Malcolm Wood

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