Brighouse and Rastrick and BAYV Bands

Guest Conductor: Frank Renton
Guest Soloist: Helen Clayton
Huddersfield Town Hall
Saturday 24th March 2007

For over sixty years now, the Brighouse and Rastrick Band has held a massed bands concert in Huddersfield Town Hall every March and October.  Traditionally they come on the back of a major contest or two (in this case, the Area contest at Bradford) and it's a chance for the players to sit back, relax and entertain without the pressures of having to impress the judges in a box (although the packed audience is usually a very hard crowd to please at times!).

By virtue of the fact these concerts are still in existence today is testament to their success.  The programmes are predominantly light in content with nothing too heavy when it comes to the choice of repertoire (that can have a theme to it) and a guest conductor who will know the artistes but doesn't work with them, week in, week out. He can influence the choice of music and has the job of linking everything to together – hopefully, effortlessly. 

The ‘home team', Brighouse and Rastrick are still very much on an emotional high after their triumph at the Yorkshire Area less than a month ago, whilst their guests, the Buy As You View - who will soon revert back to the more famous moniker of Cory, had just retained their Welsh title for a sixth consecutive time just six days earlier. Two bands in pretty good form then.

If the two bands in good form weren't enough, the guest conductor, Frank Renton was in cracking form throughout too, linking everything together in an informative way that guarantee's the audience will have gone home learning something new during the evening.

To open the night's proceeding's, the classic overture, ‘La Forza del Destino' where the technical detail was given so much time and space by the MD (something not always apparent in modern day performances) not to mention the delightful quiet playing.

Gordon Langford's arrangement of the ‘Adagio' from Spartacus and Phrygia brought memories flooding back of ‘The Onedien Line' whilst the bands and MD paid tribute to the late Sir Malcolm Arnold with a performance of his ‘Cornish Dances'. The audience got their chance to get their breath back after a romp through Dr Denis Wright's arrangement of ‘Capriccio Italien'.

Both bands featured two soloists and all were in excellent form.  BAYV's Chris Thomas acknowledged the late Don Lusher with a performance of ‘Rhapsody for Trombone and Band' and Owen Farr gave an indication that there aren't too many better principal horn's around at the moment after he fairly whizzed through the ‘Finale' of Mendelssohn's ‘Violin Concerto'.

Brighouse's new principal cornet, Stephen Wilkinson has settled into his new role with the band with consummate ease and his lyrical sound was a joy to hear in a composition by Leigh Baker (B & R's composer-in-residence who knows a good tune when he finds it) entitled ‘Grace' – the title given in honour of the composer's daughter born in 2006.

Principal Euphonium Michael Howley brought the solo spots to a conclusion with Hohne's ‘Slavonic Fantasy ‘. Michael certainly wasn't going to be outdone by the other three soloists on the night as he maintained the very high standard of performance that had been set before him.

Apart from the Brighouse soloists there was the enjoyable ‘Music from the Elizabethan Court' that featured ‘The Earl of Oxford's March', a delightful ‘Pavane' and the ‘King's Hunting Jig' before the second half was made up of items that you'll hear on the Last Night of the Proms.

Walton's ‘Crown Imperial' March was given a touch of eloquence by Frank Renton who was joined on stage by Soprano, Helen Clayton for those patriotic traditional British numbers.

Firstly, the ‘Fantasia on British Sea Songs' where the audience's attempt at clapping in time with the music proved to be little more than a damp squib and they seemed only a little more than unenthusiastic to have another go – even if the reprise was significantly better.

Finally, everyone got a chance to air his or her vocal chords led by Helen Clayton in ‘Rule Britannia', not forgetting the obligatory ‘Promenade finisher', the ‘Pomp and Circumstance March No.1' complete with encore to keep everyone happy.

An excellent night overall though with both bands and MD in fine fettle. Fodens will join Brighouse with Richard Evans at the helm in October – and who knows, perhaps Brighouse may have an even bigger silver pot to show off that night.

Malcolm Wood

^back to top