Thundersley Brass Band

Conductor: David Howell
Christmas Concert
Runnymede Hall, Benfleet
Friday 14th December

Having parted company with Musical Director Keith Schroeter earlier in the year, Thundersley Brass Band called upon David Howell, horn player and Deputy Musical Director, to take charge for their Christmas concerts, the first being held at Benfleet Methodist Church and the second at Runnymede Hall, a multipurpose function room adjacent to Castle Point Council Offices.  

It is not an ideal venue for bands, with the stage tending to absorb much of the sound, although the band were able to make use of an apron stage, which only left the horns, basses and percussion masked somewhat by the curtains.  

From an audience point of view, the lighting was also unusual in that, although the band were lit well enough, the MD appeared in shadow for much of the time, making it difficult to build a rapport with the audience. 

The band opened their programme with David Howell’s own arrangement of “Olympic Fanfare and Theme” (John Williams), with the cornets ranged ether side of the band and the trombones standing at the rear.  In fact, the solo cornets used trumpets for this item, although there seemed to be little discernable change in sound.  

Although it was a committed performance, balance could have been better, with the bass trombone tending to dominate, and intonation being uncertain, especially in the cornet section.

The side drummer seemed rather isolated at the back of the stage, and this was highlighted even more when he continued playing after the piece had finished.  It turned out that this was deliberate, as it led into a rather strange setting of “O Come All ye Faithful”, where the audience were left a little unsure as to where to come in, and were rather bemused by the rock-style backing for the last verse.  Apparently it was based on an arrangement originally written for Elvis Presley: it may have worked for him, but it certainly seemed out of place in a band concert!

After resuming standard band formation, the band continued with another arrangement by David, this time of “When a Child was Born”.  This featured an effective introduction, with answering patterns between solo cornet and muted sop, although intonation let the band down once again in the opening statement of the tune.

The first soloist to be featured was principal cornet Lauren Cave, with Kenny Baker’s “Virtuosity”, which she presented with confidence and verve, although the cadenza was a little rushed and despite playing on a trumpet, she did not produce a distinctively trumpet sound.  The accompaniment was a little stodgy at times, particularly noticeable in the grace notes in the lower half of the band.

An extract from the classics followed, with William Rimmer’s transcription of Mozart’s “Overture to the Magic Flute”.  Mozart is notoriously difficult to perform with a brass band, but Thundersley made a valiant effort, bringing out much of the subtlety and delicacy in the writing, and keeping the dynamics in check.   

The accents were kept within the context of the music, and the answering solo lines dovetailed quite well, although the balance was not always right.  Despite David’s attempts to go straight on into the recapitulation, there was the customary smattering of applause halfway when some of the audience thought the piece had ended, and a superfluous note from the timpani was made light of, explaining that the player had just returned from university that day.

Coming more up to date, David introduced Andrew Duncan’s arrangement of music from “Grease”, justifying its inclusion by explaining that the film usually appears on television over the holidays.  

Bass trombonist Andy Gregory rose to his feet to kick things off with the familiar bass line for “Summer Loving”, and there was to be considerably more bobbing up and down as the piece progressed.  There was a little uncertainty over the transition into “Sandra Dee”, and the spoken introduction to “Grease Lightning” – apparently coming from solo euphonium Paul Hicks, hiding behind his instrument - did not come across very clearly.  On the whole, however, it was a convincing performance of music the band clearly enjoys, with some fine playing by Sue Cave on flugel.

The second carol was “Once in Royal David’s City”, fortunately in a more traditional setting, and with clearer instructions given to the audience as to whether they were expected to stand.  The carols did seem to highlight one of the difficulties with Christmas concerts: audiences tend to expect a few traditional carols to be included, but do not always feel inclined to join in, which can cause something of a hiatus in the programme, with things falling a little flat.

Rhys Cave, brother of Lauren (not sister as David mistakenly announced!) is the youngest member of the band, and has just taken his Grade VIII exam at the age of 13.  He produced a very mature interpretation of “Share my Yoke”, although the band did not always respond to his intended use of rubato.  The accompaniment was greatly enhanced by some fine euphonium playing in the introduction and between the verses.

Another item with somewhat tenuous links with Christmas was the “Troika” from Prokofiev’s “Lieutenant Kije”.  Again, the band worked very hard at the dynamics and the accents, producing an effective interpretation which went down well with the audience.

Jona Lewie’s ”Stop the Cavalry” closed the first half, with David explaining that the music was drawn from Alfven’s “Swedish Rhapsody” and a Mozart “Piano Rondo”.  The basses and euphoniums were impressive in the opening bars, although the intended vocal contribution from the audience was rather half-hearted, despite the best efforts of the bandsmen to encourage them to join in. 

The second half opened with Peter Graham’s “Christmas Calypso”, the percussion vamping until the basses got into position, followed by the horns and flugel, who then played the first verse.  Unfortunately there was then a long delay - during which the basses and percussion repeated the introductory bars ad nauseam - while “volunteers” were press-ganged into joining the percussion section, whereupon the rest of the band joined in and played to the end of the piece: a good enough idea, but one which needs tightening up considerably if it is to work well.

Following the raffle, which was carried out mercifully quickly, a lone piper was featured in Simon Kerwin’s setting of “Highland Cathedral”.  Despite the inevitable tuning problems, this was another item that was warmly appreciated by the audience, and the flowing lines in the tutti passages towards the end of the arrangement blended in well.

Principal euphonium Paul Hicks showed great control in “Benedictus” (Karl Jenkins, arr Tony Small).  With a smooth line and scrupulous observing of dynamics, it also brought out the best from the band, which accompanied him with sensitivity in what was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the evening.

There was a short delay – during which David Howell filled in with one of several rather excruciating jokes which punctuated the evening – while Adam Gregory donned a snowman costume for his bass trombone solo, “Frosty the Snowman”.  

It was another confident performance, as he showed good command over the full range of the instrument, although one wondered whether it was necessary to appear in (a not very convincing) costume when he remained static by the music stand throughout the item.

A romp through Trevor Davis’s “Hooked on classics” style “Carolcade” was followed by Richard Phillips’ arrangement of “The Twelve Days of Christmas”.  This latter was accompanied by various visual aids and supposedly comical effects, but these were only really appreciated fully by those in the front few rows, and it was strangely uninvolving, as if one was looking in on an in-joke – hilarious to those in the know, but comparatively meaningless to the casual observer.

After the playing and singing of the final carol, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”, the band presented Peter Graham’s “Shine as the Light”.  Introducing the item, for which a helpful synopsis was provided in the programme, David Howell pointed out its appropriateness for the Advent season, particularly making mention of the final song, Chick Yuill’s “The Light Has Come”.  

It is clearly a piece which the band is familiar with, and brought some more fine playing, especially from cornet and euphonium (played this time by second euphonium Norman Smith) in “The Candle of the Lord”.  The aleatoric section was rather too deliberate to be really effective, and the percussion, who were hampered by the stage acoustics throughout the evening, could have been a little more incisive, but the music built up to a positive finish, despite a little over-blowing in the closing section.

The final programmed item was Derek Broadbent’s arrangement of “Merry Christmas Everyone” – although nobody took David up on the invitation to add Noddy Holder’s memorable contribution of “It’s Christmas”!  The evening then closed with the encore, “Snow Waltz”, complete with the obligatory swaying from both band and audience.

It brought an end to a programme that had brought much enjoyment to the predominantly elderly audience, many of whom are clearly regular attendees at the band’s concerts, but which was also very frustrating at times.  The band has some very fine players around the stand, and is capable of producing some very good music, but is too often let down by issues of balance and intonation.  

As for the presentation, there were some good ideas which somehow did not quite come off, and some rather stale jokes that should be consigned to oblivion!  

Encouragingly, the band has received a number of promising applications for the vacant Musical Director’s position, and is hoping to appoint someone early in the New Year who will be able to address these issues as they prepare for life in the second section.

Peter Bale

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