Leyland Band
31-Jan-20072007 RNCM Festival of Brass
Conductor: Russell Gray
Sunday 28th January
After the excitement of the previous day's RNCM Festival of Brass debut of Eikanger-Bjørsvik Musikklag, Sunday saw the turn of rather more local festival debutantes in the shape of the Leyland Band under Russell Gray. Not that the band's concert was without its Norwegian connections. Russell Gray could be said to enjoy "adopted" Scandinavian status as a result of his tenure in Stavanger whilst somewhat less tenuously, Norwegian trombone ace Runar Værnes played for the band throughout the programme other than a substitution when he took solo centre stage for his performance of Håkan Berge's 'Trombel'.
There is a real spring in the step of Leyland's personnel these days and Russell Gray's inspired leadership has instilled a confidence that is light years away from the dark days prior to his arrival. It might be well over a year since the band secured their long awaited triumph on the stage of the Royal Albert Hall but the confidence generated from that win clearly lives on.
It was there in abundance in the opening bars of Eric Ball's 'Journey into Freedom', a fitting start to the band's programme and one which continued the Festival's central theme of Elgar and his musical legacy, a legacy that was to form the basis of Eric Ball's own creative language.
Russell Gray's shaping of the melodic flow and characterisation of the music's changing moods was admirable and with individual players of the quality of Lesley Howie around the stands there were several notable solo contributions, not least of which came from Andy Lord whose solo cornet playing in the love theme demonstrated lyrical playing of real class. The performance did not escape the odd blemish and there were occasional moments of imprecise ensemble but in the enthusiasm stakes the band's commitment to the music was always clearly evident.
One of the joys of the Festival of Brass is the opportunity to hear works performed live that are unlikely, for a host of differing reasons, to become standard concert fare. In the case of Håkan Berge's 'Trombel' the reason is largely one of practicality, or put another way finding a trombonist who is able to devote the time and energy to mastering what is effectively a highly demanding concerto in one extended movement. There are obviously no such concerns for Runar Værnes, whose relaxed and smiling on stage persona showed his ease with the prospect of what lied ahead
'Trombel' was the only work of the weekend that failed to get a programme note in the otherwise vital glossy festival brochure and Russell Gray's useful spoken introduction to the piece therefore proved particularly helpful. Berge's reputation these days is largely in the theatre although Trombel dates to 1990 and inhabits musical territory that although unquestionably contemporary in its language, never descends into sheer dissonance.
Growing from a quietly declamatory opening, the music explores the trombone in all its facets although there is no shortage of serious work for the band to get stuck into. The fleeting moments of discomfort that surfaced in 'Journey into Freedom' were completely dispelled here with at times tumultuous sounds from the band and playing of effortless facility from Værnes.
For some in the hall though (this reviewer included) the highest point of the programme was its centre point and a piece that Paul Hindmarsh commissioned for the National Youth Brass Band Championships from the young Cornishman Simon Dobson. On a purely technical level this was certainly not the most challenging music that Leyland faced on the day, although that is not the point. Rather, Simon Dobson is one of the most talented young composers to have emerged from within the brass band scene for many a year and 'Lyonesse' (subtitled The Lost Land of Tristan and Iseult) is a work that points to a career of ever increasing potential. His forthcoming work for the "B" section of the 2008 European Championships is his highest profile commission yet and should be something to look forward to come May. Don't be surprised if this guy starts producing test pieces at the highest level in the very near future.
The music takes as its starting point the mythical story of the land said to have linked Land's End with the Isles of Scilly and the great storm that proved its destroyer. Dobson has a tremendous ear for sonority and effect and uses this ability tellingly in a piece that is both haunting and exhilarating. Judging by the audience reaction Dobson already has the popularity vote and Leyland's enthralling performance was the pinnacle of their playing on the day.
It was good to hear two works from the admirable Brass Band Aid CD on the Sunday in Gavin Higgins's 'Ivory Ghosts', played later in the evening by Brighouse and Leyland's performance of Peter Meechan's 'Hymn for Africa'. Placed in the context of the works performed either side of it Meechan's music does not make excessive demands on the listener but it is the relative simplicity of the music, its gradual emergence from the African plains amidst gentle African rhythms and percussion before slowly retreating once again that lends the music its emotional heart and made for a moving interlude amidst heavyweights of the repertoire.
Having commenced with music by a master of the past in Eric Ball, it was fitting that Leyland concluded its programme with a modern master in Philip Wilby. It could be said that Ball and Wilby are linked by their spirituality, a factor that imbues much of their music although in the case of 'Paganini Variations', it was the purely secular brilliance of Paganini's famous violin Caprice that proved irresistible to Wilby.
In common with the rest of the band's programme Russell Gray wrenched every ounce of colour and effect from Wilby's endlessly varied score. It made for some exciting and exuberant playing although the demands of the programme on the stamina of the players did surface in the form of tired lips in some of the more exposed passages.
There was still enough left in the tanks however for a lively encore of Elgar's 'Pomp and Circumstance March No. 4', fittingly rounding off an entertaining Festival of Brass debut for the local Lancastrians.
Christopher Thomas
