Brass Day at the Proms - Prom 21

Royal Albert Hall, 28th July

David Pyatt, Michael Thompson, Martin Owen, Cormac O hAodain, horns
Hakan Hardenberger, trumpet
Torbjorn Hultmark, trumpet; David Purser, trombone
Fanfare Trumpets of the Band of the Coldstream Guards
Tashkent (Musicians from Uzbekistan)
Musicians from the Royal Northern College of Music and Birmingham Conservatoire, London & South East England
BBC Philharmonic
Sir Charles Mackerras, Andre deidder, Peter Wiegold, conductors

The second concert in the Proms Brass day commenced with a second performance of Judith Bingham’s “Fanfare ‘Ziggurat’”.  Having been premiered by twelve students from the Royal Northern College of Music and Birmingham Conservatoire, for the second hearing they were augmented by brass players from the BBC Philharmonic, together with two percussionists.  The players were arrayed on the risers either side of the organ loft, eight French horns and four trumpets to the left, and four trumpets and six trombones to the right, with a field drum positioned at either end of the row.  

Whether it was hearing it for a second time, or the presence of the additional players, the piece seemed to make a greater impact, played rather more robustly, with the entries and rising harmonies seeming a little more secure, and with the percussion underlining the steady pulse.  Once again the composer, whose recent recording with Fine Arts Brass and the BBC Symphony chorus has received plaudits from several reviewers, was present to acknowledge the applause.

With the strings of the BBC Philharmonic already in place on the platform, they were joined by the wind players to await the stellar quartet of soloists who were to face the daunting task of performing Robert Schumann’s “Konzertstuck for four horns, Op 86”.  Written in 1849, it was one of the first works to exploit the possibilities of the valved horn, and the composer revels in the opportunity for frequent key changes and harmonic progressions.  It demands considerable stamina from the four soloists, with the upper parts lying very high in the register.  

BBC Philharmonic

From the opening of the first movement – “Lebhaft” – the horns made a well-balanced quartet, and it was clear that they were not going to be lured into the trap of playing too forcibly.  Concentrating on their own parts, it was up to the orchestra to keep beneath them.  The soloists showed great empathy one with another, the parts dovetailing neatly.  The second movement – “Romanze” – bears the instruction “Fairly slow, but without dragging”, and the tempo set seemed just about right.  The duet at the start was gentle and reflective, and the soloists received excellent support from the orchestra.  Robert Schumann has been frequently criticised over his orchestrations, particularly when transferred to modern instruments, but the soloists were always able to heard, the tuttis being reserved in the main for the orchestral interludes.  

Trumpet fanfares rang out to lead into the final movement – “Sehr lebhaft” – taken at a very lively pace as requested.  The interchanges between the soloists were very well handled, and the roulades and runs were most impressive.  The occasional blip detracted little from the overall effect, and the unison arpeggios soared over the ensemble.  At the conclusion of the piece, the audience left soloists David Pyatt, Michael Thompson, Martin Owen and Cormac O hAodain in no doubt that their efforts had been greatly appreciated.

Hakan Hardenberger 

The relatively modest wind resources required for the Schumann were augmented somewhat as the orchestra prepared to accompany Hakan Hardenberger in HK (Heinz Karl) Gruber’s “Aerial”, the extra players including two saxophones, bass clarinet and contrabassoon, as well as tuba and extra trumpets and horns.  There was also quite an array of percussion, particularly tuned, occupying the risers to the left of the platform.  

The piece was premiered – or “launched”, in the words of the programme – at the 1999 Proms by Hakan Hardenberger and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.  The work is in two movements, and incorporates a number of contemporary playing techniques.  The first movement bears an inscription from Emily Dickinson – “Done with the compass – Done with the chart!” – and depicts an imaginary landscape beneath the Northern Lights.  

The movement opened with fragmentary figures on piano, percussion and flute set against sustained strings, and when the soloist enters he is required to sing into the instrument as well as play, producing considerably low-pitched notes which frequently changed pitch whilst the trumpet note remained constant.  There was a reference in the programme note to the god Pan creating music and performing on a reed formed from the nymph Syrinx.  The percussion provided links at various points to enable the soloist to change mutes, instruments or to remove slides from the valves, all adding to the variety of sounds he was able to conjure up.  He also made effective use of the tuning trigger to inflect note upwards or downwards, and the impression left from passages moving between conventional writing and playing through slideless valves was most striking.  When he took up the cowhorn it was quite an ethereal, sweet sound, which blended well with the ensuing passages on soprano and alto saxophone.  After a spell on piccolo trumpet, including passages at the upper limit of the range, he returned to the C trumpet for the close of the movement.

The second movement – “Gone dancing” – opened with a trumpet cadenza, initially unaccompanied, but with the orchestra gradually joining in, particularly in the form of interjections from the woodwind.  Saxophones and percussion came to the fore, with the orchestral trumpet occasionally entering into a dialogue with the soloist. There was a section which was strangely reminiscent of “West Side Story”, with brief and disjointed phrases, and the effect was rather surreal at times.  The music then took a turn to the East, with folk music style figures introduced by the woodwind and then taken up around the orchestra, with the drum kit assuming a prominent position in the ensemble.  

Following the reappearance of the piccolo trumpet, featured in a powerful melody in conjunction with soprano sax and piccolo, the movement ended quietly, with the soloist moving towards the piano, playing his final notes across the strings to magical effect.  Despite the modernity of the writing, HK Gruber’s music is very accessible, and was well received by most in the hall.

“He is armoured without”  

The second half commenced with a BBC commission, Peter Wiegold’s “He is armoured without”.  Written especially for the brass day, and to exploit both the forces available and also the possibilities offered by the Albert Hall itself, the title is taken from the writings of Horace, the full quote reading: “He is armoured without, who is innocent within, let this be thy shield, thy wall of brass”.  

The composer also drew inspiration from Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”, thus tying in with one of this year’s themes for the Proms.  It was very much a work of music theatre, featuring a solo trumpeter depicting the magician-king who brings the world into existence, and a solo trombone portraying a jester, constantly shadowing the king and often poking fun at him.  Making imaginative use of the hall, two brass choirs were positioned in the stalls, one at either side of the stage, the eight brass players and two drummers of the Fanfare Team of the Coldstream Guards were posted at the far end of the Arena facing them, and a row of seventeen trombones stood towards the back of the stage, flanked by two standard bearers.  

The brass choirs and trombonists were dressed in black, with white flashes on each arm.  The strings of the BBC Philharmonic were in place, as was a single side-drummer, and there was a large diameter, shallow bass drum at either side of the stage.  Looking up to the gallery, there appeared to be some music stands at the ready, but no players were visible at that point.  Just before the composer mounted the podium to commence the work, the Uzbek trumpeters who had made such an impact during the afternoon took their places either side of the rostrum.  The scene was set, but it is very hard to do justice in words alone to what followed:

As the trombones and brass choirs set up a gentle wash of sound, the two soloists walked to the platform in the centre of the Arena, making great play of getting their instruments out of the cases and preparing the music on the stands.  The trumpeter was the catalyst for what then developed, bringing the various elements into the action, with imaginative use of mutes adding variety.  During the ensuing exchanges, sixteen or so tubas entered the Arena, taking up their positions round the edge, and surrounding the promenaders.  As the music developed, sound emanated from various areas, with the two brass choirs at one point playing a semitone apart, and a duel ensuing between the fanfare trumpets and the Uzbek karnays.  

When the trumpeters in the gallery entered the fray, with the sound rippling round between the four groups, it brought an almost mesmerising effect as their flourishes added to the general panoply of sound.  A lone flugel intoned its solo – what an occasion for the young player involved! – and the Uzbek’s sarnay added its own plaintive, reedy sound.  As the music became more intricate, at one point there were at least six conductors in action, and then clones of the lead trumpeter emerged from various points in the hall – the organ loft, the gallery, boxes on all sides – imitating their master’s lead.  After all the excitement, the quiet ending came as something of a surprise, with the music fading away to leave the quiet wash of sound from the opening bars, the trombones gently edging up and down their slides.  

It was a very engaging piece, given added vitality by the enthusiastic – and often very humorous – performance by the two main soloists, Torbjorn Hultmark on trumpet and David Purser on trombone.  Whether anyone will ever gather together the required forces in a suitable venue for a second performance remains to be seen, but those present in the Albert Hall will be able to say to future generations, in the immortal words of Max Boyce, “I was there”!

“Sinfonietta” 

After the massive numbers of brass featured in Peter Wiegold’s piece, the additional brass called on by Leos Janacek for his “Sinfonietta” seemed almost restrained!   

It is a late work, dating from 1926, and incorporating fanfares originally written for the Sokol Gymnastic Festival.  In addition to the orchestral brass – 5 horns, 3 trumpets, 4 trombones (including on this occasion a contrabass) and tuba – Janacek uses a brass choir consisting of 9 trumpets, 2 euphoniums and 2 bass trumpets.  The brass group opened the “Allegretto”, the euphoniums and bass trumpets first, joined by the trumpets, who then introduced the melody familiar to aficionados of the seventies television programme “Crown Court”.  The “Andante” commenced with the four trombones, all muted, laying down an ostinato pattern over which the woodwind entered, followed by the strings.  The music has a “woodland” feel to it, with a close affinity to the composer’s opera “The Cunning Little Vixen”, written two years earlier, with prominent writing for the flutes in particular.  

The trumpets intoned a fanfare over a string accompaniment, the impressive harpist also having an important role to play.  The movement ended with some delicate playing from the brass, the sound gradually fading away.  The sweeping melody presented in the “Moderato” could almost have been taken from Smetana’s “Ma Vlast”, and was presented with lush string sound, and prominent tuba and bass clarinet.  The cor anglais added its own distinctive tones, followed by the oboe, and spectacular flourishes from the quartet of flutes.  With the entry of the full brass – fanfare and orchestral joining together – one was momentarily conscious of the effect of the Royal Albert Hall echo, but it did not prove too disconcerting.  The “Allegretto” brought a reprise of the opening fanfare, but this time played by the orchestral trumpets, and with a restless figure in the strings.   

The woodwind and horns then took up the theme, and the single tubular bell rang out against the energetic pizzicato of the cellos and basses.  The final “Allegro” began with a trio of flutes and various woodwind figures followed, sometimes accompanied by the four trombones.  Further woodwind flourishes led to an appropriately raucous solo on the Eb clarinet before the return of the very opening fanfare, orchestral horns joining with the additional brass, backed by the strings.  As the music grew in intensity, the oboes and clarinets raised their bells in the air, and the music moved on to its triumphant conclusion.  

Sir Charles Mackerras has done much to promote the music of Janacek over the years, and his clear, uncluttered direction contributed greatly to what was a most successful performance, no doubt winning more listeners for the cause.  It marked the close of an enjoyable day’s music-making, and it is to be hoped that the healthy audience figure will encourage the powers that be to feature brass again before too long.

Peter Bale

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