Brass Day at the Proms - Prom 20

Royal Albert Hall,
London,
Saturday 28th July

Although not a sell-out, it was a pretty good audience which gathered for the first of the two concerts comprising Brass Day which formed part of the 2007 Season of Henry Wood Promenade Concerts.  Conspicuous amongst the attendees were many brass players, young and old, who had previously taken part in the Brass Massive gathering.  Also to be seen were many luminaries from the brass band and orchestral brass worlds, but in addition there were many for whom it was to be their first exposure to brass playing of such scope and variety. 

Opening

To open the concert, twelve students stepped forward to the platform in the centre of the Arena to present Judith Bingham’s “Fanfare ‘Ziggurat’”.  Drawn from the Royal Northern College of Music and Birmingham Conservatoire, the group comprised four each of trumpets, French horns and trombones.  Inspired by “Etemenanki”, the Babylonian temple said to have been the model for the Tower of Babel, the music consisted of seven 17-second sections, written in a time signature of 4 + 3 crotchets, and played at a metronome mark of crotchet = 77.  A brief work, lasting only for two minutes, the music rose stepwise, particularly in the horns and trombones, with high and low chords alternating as the music developed.  Despite a little hesitancy at times, and shaky intonation from the trumpets in the final bars, the initial impression was favourable, and one looked forward to the repeat performance in the evening concert.  Judith Bingham, no stranger to writing for brass, was present in the hall to acknowledge the applause.

His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts

In total contrast to the opening fanfare, the next group to perform were His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts.  Formed some 25 years ago to explore the performance of 16th and 17th century music on original instruments and according to contemporary performance practice, their gentler style of playing reflects the ideal of the time, in that instrumentalists should aspire to a vocal approach to playing.  The sackbuts, in various sizes, are clearly recognisable as fore-runners of the modern trombone, despite their narrow bore, small bells with very little flair, and generally the absence of a water key.  The cornett – usually nowadays spelt with a double “t” to distinguish it from the brass band instrument, although both spellings were common in historical writings – provides the soprano voice to the group, and is a curved woodwind instrument with finger holes, but played with a brass or wooden mouthpiece. 

Their three pieces were all drawn from Italy, dating from the late 16th/early 17th centuries, when much use was made of antiphonal effects.  For the “Toccata”, from Claudio Monteverdi’s “Orfeo” a group of five natural trumpets was set against a second comprising two cornets and four sackbuts – one alto, two tenors, and one bass, complete with handle for the slide, with a deep drum providing the pulse.  One was struck from the outset by the gentle sound of the cornets and sackbuts, coupled with extremely clear articulation.

Giovanni Gabrieli’s “Sonata pian’ e forte” is so called because it is one of the earliest examples of the use of contrasting dynamics appearing in print.  The two choirs consisted of cornett and three sackbuts on one side, and four sackbuts on the other, and they were supported by a continuo in the form of a chamber organ, delicately played by Gary Cooper.  It was interesting to note that several of the players moved quite happily from natural trumpet to sackbut during their performance.  The two groups sometimes alternated, and sometimes played together, with rapid scalic passages played by their respective lead players.  There was much use of echo effects, and the syncopated passages came across as perfectly natural, whilst the final blaze of sound was quite spectacular.

Their final item was “Sacri concentus ac symphoniae – Canzon terza” by Giovanni Battista Grillo.  The left hand group comprised 3 cornetts and one sackbut, with four sackbuts o the right, and some of the writing was particularly intricate, with much interchange between the top two cornett players, and contrast between the high and low pitched groups.  There was also more use of accents and rises and falls, as phrases were pointed, and it was fascinating to see how closely the sackbuts were able to match the articulation of the cornetts.

Uzbek musicians

There had been much said beforehand about the musicians from Uzbekistan, playing the traditional karnay, a long ceremonial trumpet.  The instrument has very strong cultural and religious connotations, and reading the detailed instructions regarding the use of the instruments and the conduct of the players, one is very much reminded of similar instructions given in the book of Deuteronomy.  

In addition to the trumpets, they featured the doira, an instrument similar to a tambourine, made from a wooden hoop with a cowskin membrane stretched over it, and with steel rings attached, and the nog’ora, small kettledrums covered with goatskin and capable of producing a range of sounds.  There was also a wind instrument, presumably the sarnay, a double reed instrument which shares its lineage with the shawm.  It is hard to describe the impact these musicians made, as they came to the central platform in their black robes with gold trimmings and raised the karnays towards the ceiling of the hall.  

It was a somewhat eerie, primeval sound, mainly on a single note, but generating a pulse with the throat, and producing varying patterns of sound, just as they described patterns with the movement of the instruments, first around the hall, then up and down, including crossing over the bells in a similar fashion to morris men with their staves or swords.  Having played their first item, “Karnay girboni”, with four karnays, one player took up the sarnay as they presented “Bairam taronsay”, adding a hypnotic melodic element, just as Holst observed and depicted in his oriental suite “Beni Mora”.  

The trumpeters introduced further harmonics, and in their final item, “Karnay rytms”, one reversed the bell section of his instrument, thus raising the pitch and providing more variety, all driven forward by the drumming provided by the doira and nog’ora.  At the conclusion of their performance, which was met with thunderous applause, they returned to the platform, and three of their number offered a encore: a single flourish from each of the three karnays to send the audience off for the first of two intervals.

The central section of the concert provided more traditional fare, with Black Dyke Band and Grimethorpe Colliery band returning to the Prom stage for the first time since 1981.  According to the programme listings, two players were present on both occasions: David Barraclough, solo cornet with Grimethorpe in 1981 and third cornet in 2007, and Peter Roberts, previously in the soprano chair with Grimethorpe and currently sporting the red and black of Black Dyke.  Each band presented two solo items, before uniting to perform Edward Elgar’s “Severn Suite”, in a new edition prepared by Elgar scholar Philip Maund.

Grimethorpe

Grimethorpe, under the baton of Alan Withington, opened with Ralph Vaughan Williams’ overture “Henry V”, generally believed to date from the early 1930s, but with no record of a performance before 1980.  Vaughan Williams features four melodies within the overture, two French and two English, and is said to have played a part in influencing William Walton when he was preparing his own score for the Lawrence Olivier film.  The band produced a wonderfully full sound in the majestic unison figure which opens the piece, followed by some excellent piano playing in the lower band as they accompanied the crisp fanfares from horns and trombones.  The programme note referred to Vaughan Williams marking the parts “quasi tromba” and it was a suitably trumpet-like sound which emanated from the band as the “Agincourt song” entered the fray.  

The arrival of the Provencal folk song “Magali” found Roger Webster at his lyrical best, whilst Kevin Crockford was also on top form.  The trombones produced a suitably martial tone in the French marching tune “Reveillez-vous, Piccars”, before the “Earl of Oxford’s March” crept in almost sotto voce.  The music built towards the close, with some effective descending scales throughout the band, culminating in a triumphant burst of sound.

“Ragtimes and Habaneras” was commissioned from the German composer Hans Werner Henze by the Grimethorpe Colliery Band at the instigation of Elgar Howarth, receiving its first performance in the 1975 prom, which Black Dyke and Grimethorpe shared with excerpts from Gilbert and Sullivan operettas.  He drew the material from a vaudeville conceived for television entitled “La Cubana”, and there are references to various dance forms, along with allusions to the music of Kurt Weill.  The brass band idiom was quite new to the composer, who treats the band more as a brass ensemble, with the soprano cornet carrying a heavier burden in terms of solo work than is usually the case - fortunately, Kevin Crockford carried it off with aplomb.  

The band caught the café style atmosphere right from the start, and the flutter-tonguing cornets and sleazy trombones contributed to a most atmospheric reading.  Dynamics were closely observed, and individual solo entries came in with confidence, whilst the angular phrases, particularly on the cornets, were negotiated convincingly.  At several points, the music died away to nothing before picking up again for the next section, and there was some fine solo work on flugel and trombone.  With the reference to “Mack the knife” the music drove on to its inevitable close, and the warm applause of the audience.

Black Dyke

Black Dyke, under Nicholas Childs, chose to open with Wilfred Heaton’s “Toccata: Oh the blessed Lord”.  Wilfred Heaton, who conducted the band for a short period in 1971, originally wrote it as a sextet for an American tour, but it was considered too advanced, and only became popular following his band arrangement, made in the late 1960s.  Written for brass band without percussion – as was the Henze – it calls for precise articulation, and from Richard Marshall’s cleanly taken solo through the ensuing entries across the band the tonguing was clear and together.  Rhythms were tight and much was made of the contrasting dynamics.  In the slower central section the cornet duet was well balanced, and the trombone trio was most impressive.  As with much “busy” writing, it is the quiet moments which are the most telling, and Nicholas Childs made the most of the opportunities when they arose, whilst there was a genuine feeling of excitement and exhilaration when the “Golden Slippers” tune finally appeared towards the end.

Philip Wilby is listed as Musician in Association with the Black Dyke Band, and “. . . Dove descending” is held by many to be his finest work for band.  Commissioned for the 1999 British Open, and conscious of the impending millennium celebrations, Philip was inspired to write what he describes as a “celebration of the birth of Jesus in musical form”.  It is written in two parts, and on this occasion was performed with the optional organ part, performed by Mark Lee on the majestic Albert Hall instrument.  As with a number of Philip Wilby’s compositions, players are asked to move to particular positions to play, and so it was that the cornets and soprano were ranged either side of the band, with first and second trombones standing on the risers to either side of the percussion.  

After the bright opening fanfares, the chords from the middle of the band were only just audible, most effective, and the trombone solos were played with confidence.  Out of sight of this listener, the bass trombone seemed to be playing from the passageway leading onto the stage, again to great effect.  When the “big tune” emerged, it was suitably impressive, soaring over the underlying rhythmic figures.    Following the pause between the two movements, where it almost felt as if there was going to be some applause, the lower brass opening to the second part was very atmospheric.  Following the trombone’s cadenza, played from the side of the stage, David Thornton stepped forward to the front of the stage, presenting the euphonium cadenza with confidence (despite departing from the composer’s stipulation that it should be played using just the fourth valve), with a very neat hand over to the trombone and back.  

The organ made its entry in the Nativity section, which may have contributed to the feeling that it was all a little safe, avoiding the quietest of dynamics that the band is generally renowned for.  Peter Roberts stood for his solo, and Lee Rigg’s contribution was exemplary.  Despite a couple of uncharacteristic slips in the solos – from which the players recovered very quickly – it was a moving rendition, with the organ adding a different slant to proceedings, particularly in the descending scales at the Molto Tranquillo, and in the linking bar where there is normally just a percussion roll. 

Severn Suite

After a brief reorganisation of the seating, the two bands joined under Nicholas Childs’ direction to perform the latest version of Elgar’s “Severn Suite, Op 87”.  Commissioned for the National Championships at Crystal Palace in 1930, Henry Geehl worked with the composer to provide assistance with the scoring for band.  The collaboration does not seem to have been a happy one, resulting in some confusion over the composer’s real intentions, not least of which being the question of which key the music should be played in. 

Following the discovery of Elgar’s draft score, Bram Gay produced a new edition which was used for the Open Championships at Bridgewater Hall in 1996, setting it in the key of C (concert), a tone higher than the original, and incorporating elements from Elgar’s own orchestration.  Philip Maund’s edition, played on this occasion, reverts to the original key of Bb, and addresses several inconsistencies in the original.

From the outset, the sound of the two bands was impressive, with the “Introduction: Pomposo” making one almost think the organ had joined in once more.  (Elgar himself adapted the suite as his “Organ Sonata No 2” at the request of a friend.)  The solo passages were on the whole taken by the Black Dyke Principals, although Roger Webster was missing from his customary seat.  The running quaver passages across the band in the “Toccata” flowed smoothly, with effective contrasts made between the loud and soft sections.  

The “Fugue” was a little on the loud side, with the occasional slight uncertainty and hesitancy, whilst there was some excellent playing in the solos in the “Minuet”.  In the “Coda” the trombones produced a real Elgarian sound that could have come straight from the “Cockaigne” overture, and the sound of the two sops sustaining the top note was thrilling.  After such fine music making, it was just a little disappointing to hear someone from a couple of rows behind comment that “you would have thought they could have provided an encore, and played something we knew”!

Pictures at an Exhibition

As the players took the stage for the third and final part of the concert, Elgar Howarth’s transcription of Modest Musorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition”, Roger Webster’s previous absence was explained, as he appeared amongst the members of the BBC Philharmonic, flugel horn and trumpet in hand.  They were assisted by musicians from the Royal Northern College of Music, and the performance marked the debut of trumpet virtuoso Haken Hardenberger as conductor of a large brass ensemble.  Elgar Howarth’s transcription was undertaken in 1977 for a recording by the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, and was greeted at the time as an event of some significance, receiving considerable coverage in the media.  

The opening “Promenade” featured Roger Webster’s warm flugel sound, with the use of mutes adding to the range of colours, particularly in the trumpet section, and the ensuing answering chords between the trombones and tubas and horns and flugel in “Gnomus” worked well.  The second “Promenade” featured Becky Smith on euphonium, supported by muted trumpets and trombones.  In “The Old Castle”, Ravel’s orchestration featured the alto saxophone, but Elgar Howarth’s choice of flugel works equally well, with the tuba playing the introductory phrases.  A gentle pulse was maintained throughout, with horn chords alternating with the trombones towards the end.  “Tuileries” was notable for some neat trumpet figures, with dovetailing of parts between the Eb and piccolo trumpets.   Menacing horns made the most of “Bydlo”, against the heavy tread provided by the basses and euphoniums, and sustained chords on trumpets and trombones.  

In the “Ballad of the Unhatched Chicks” the trumpet grace notes were nicely accomplished, with fine support from the percussion, whilst the lower brass produced a full sound in “Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle”.  In the ensuing “Promenade” the notorious echo of the Albert hall suddenly became intrusive, before “Limoges Market Place” provided more testing writing for the trumpets and piccolo, not to mention a fine tuba solo from Ben Thompson.  

The final movements produced an atmospheric reading of “Catacombs”, the horns emerging from the trombone sound, and a suitably threatening “Baba-Yaga” leading into a majestic “Great Gate of Kiev”, bringing the afternoon to a close.  Despite some fine playing, as a performance it was not wholly satisfactory, with Hakan Hardenberger’s direction seeming a little unclear at times, and the reading showing signs of being rather under-rehearsed.  Nevertheless it was well received by the audience in the hall, who may have been somewhat weary after some three hours twenty minutes of brass music.

Peter Bale

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