A Night of Brass

Brass Band Willebroek & Fodens Richardson
Conductors: Frans Violet & Garry Cutt
Palais des Beaux Arts
Brussels
29th September

Brass Band Willebroek  opened the evening with a joyous and superb account of Paul Lovatt-Cooper's impressive "Horizons" - perhaps the best playing of their part of the evening.

The first of the soloists, soprano player Bert Van Thienen might be somewhat disappointed that he took a little while to get into his stride, but he gave a good account of Stijn Roel's "Lyrica".

Next up, Percy Fletcher's "Labour and Love". This was, well....pretty hard labour and by the end there was not much love left. This was not a good choice for the nature of the evening - perhaps there was an intention to refer back to earlier days of brass banding but it came across as a bit old hat and square.

Raf Van Looveren demonstrated a technique so amazing in his performance of Mark Freeh's arrangement of Arban's "Tyrolean Song"  that the audience was breaking into applause mid-performance and at the end many had faces aglow with wonderment. Philip Sparke's "A Quiet Moment"  was gently played, although perhaps the essence of the music was not quite there.

I always look forward to hearing a recent test piece played in the less pressuried atmoshere of a concert performance when there has been time to rethink and reflect on the piece. It was good rendering of Ellerby's "Elgar Variations" but, perhaps, without the atmosphere of the contest stage the performance did not quite reach the anticipated standard. Steff Pillaert played Philip Sparke's "Harlequin" - glorious sound, great backing from the band and another cheering response from the audience. And to round off, there was a cracking performance of Paul Drury's SA March "Jubilee".  A good band, playing to a good standard to a very appreciative audience in a very pleasant concert hall - and who could want for more?
 
Well, Foden's led by Gary Cutt gave us more - they moved the standard up several notches.

They have a tremendous "presence" on stage and they proceded to give a performance of such quality and musicality that adequate superlatives are hard to find. This was collective artistry, here was superb technique, control, beautiful sound across the whole dynamic range, here was a band that took brass playing imto the realms of true art.

Lets take the soloists first, Helen Fox played Carmichael's [arr Morrison] "Georgia on my Mind"  with consummate artistry and musicianship, with a lovely, lovely sound all integrated into a sympathetic and balanced backing; Les Neish - and the audience - had gentle fun with Norbury's "Badinage" but the fun did not detract from the quality of the performance and the musicianship of the performer - and the solo trombone player John Barber shared his enjoyment of Porter's "Its alright Now"  with a delighted audience.
 
Foden's started with stunning performances of Howarth's "Agincourt Song"; Sweatingham's [arr Smith] "Valero" and W Hogarth Lears "Pel Mel". Incredibly, Foden's maintained its excellence in every piece and it is difficult to highlight anything among the jewels and riches. But for me the performance of the Shostokovich "Festive Overture" touched perfection, a quite stunning performance.

Gentler pieces, Brodsky's [arr Richard] "I'll Walk with God" and Kenneth Downie's "In Perfect Peace" with its challenges of balance and entry gave a musical balance to the programme. Bruebeck's [arr Edwards] "Blue Rondo a la Turk" and Kachaturian's [arr Snell] "Lezghinka" demonstrated the Band's ability to perform technical wizardry without losing its musicality.
 
Finally we reached Wagner's [arr Snell] "Procession to the Minster". Control, control, control from gentle beginnings to the final outpouring of great triumph; here was a band playing ffff - in tune and with perfect intonation!
 
So what about the audience, at a guess 600+. At a brass event in the UK I look to see whether there is anyone in the audience not eligible to join their local branch of the University of the Third Age!  At this Belgian event the greyheads were very much in the minority.  A crowd of young and relatively young people.  Maybe it is because brass banding is still new to people in Belgium and because people have open minds to various musical expression?
 
But to return to Foden's - as I said at the beginning, they took brass playing into the realms of artistry enhanced by the sheer beauty of their sound. It is said that "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever". Sadly even a good recording can never capture the atmosphere of the moment so that the memory becomes the joy for ever.

Like the rest of the audience I was entranced and enthralled - I can only stand in awe!   
 
Derek Dunn

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