Black Dyke

RNCM Festival of Brass
Conductors: Dr Nicholas Childs and Professor Edward Gregson
Soloists: Joseph Cook and Brett Baker
Friday 25th January

Black Dyke and Dr Nicholas Childs got the 2008 Festival of Brass off to a fine start with a demanding programme that centred around the music of Bourgeois, Graham, Gregson, Lloyd and Vaughan Williams. 

A healthy sized audience sat in expectation waiting one of the most famous names in the world to take to the stage and in anticipation that they would perform to the high standard that they set themselves here.

Those expecting to be blown away by Dyke in tip top cracking form from the off had to be patient though, as the band wasn’t quite at the top of their game early on. 

When they did get into the stride though, the presentation of the repertoire was superb.  It was a little bit like a juggernaut of sound and technique just taking time to get into motion – a touch hesitant to start, but fast becoming an almost unstoppable force as it quickly flicked up through the gears.

Professor Edward Gregson’s ‘Prelude for an Occasion’ was full of rhythmic vigour and it led into the first of sixteen test pieces written for brass band that would be heard over the weekend in concert format.

‘Diversions on a Bass Theme’ was commissioned in 1986 for the Mineworkers Championships by Bass North Limited - hence the word Bass in the title pays homage to the brewery as opposed to the brass instrument.

The work is a set of variations that formulate from the opening bar from the basses and is a delightful piece of writing that remains a stern test for bands.  Whilst the opening notation from the bass section wasn’t bang on the button, Dr Childs coerced a performance built with purpose and accuracy as it progressed, highlighted by powerful ensemble passages and a fine closing section.

Still on a bass theme, Joseph Cook was the soloist in the first Vaughan Williams piece of the Festival, performing the 'Tuba Concerto' arranged for band by Phillip Littlemore. Throughout the thirteen or so minutes there was plenty of quality to be heard from solo voice and ensemble although it did at times lack consistency.

Each side of the interval came two test pieces that the band delivered with total conviction - firstly, Philip Sparke’s ‘Variations on an Enigma’ written for Desford in 1986.

It was a tour de force performance of a tour de force work, full of energy. Sparkling cornet work and fluid horns and flugel were balanced by expressive lower brass especially in the funeral march section (David Thornton in superb form) and the fugue towards the end which was edge of the seat stuff.

‘Montage’ by Professor Peter Graham was included to acknowledge the composers’ 50th birthday.  An outstanding performance evoked memories of the bands interpretation at the British Open in 2004, with the added bonus that the band were not ‘rewarded’ with a baffling 6th place for their efforts on this occasion. 

The opening movement was precise and facile followed by real pathos from   Messrs Marshall and Thornton in middle section that sent shivers down the spine.  The final section was just as impressive with so much clarity and detail on show. Paul Duffy on soprano was on excellent form – and considering this was his first major test since taking over the soprano seat, he deserved enormous credit for his overall performance on the night.

Brett Baker then delivered a fine performance of ‘Nightmare’ by Derek Bourgeois, a piece of dark aggression similar to the more angular sections of ‘Blitz’ and ‘Apocalypse’.  Here the soloist gave a truly robust reading of a tough work that wasn’t the easiest piece of music to listen to at times.

Gregson’s 'Variations on Laudate Dominum’ is a familiar work that dates back to the 1970s.  Conducted by the composer, it’s had a bit of a makeover as a personal tribute to the band with the inclusion of two new variations: a waltz and a tarantella. 

Whilst the two movements are very modern in style, they blended in to the overall work exceptionally well, not unduly shifting the thematic core of the work.

For the encore, it was a change of formation and style with music coming from Dyke’s newly appointed Composer-in-Residence, Paul Lovatt-Cooper in the form of ‘Walking with Heroes’.

Overall, there was more than enough quality on offer from Dyke to leave the audience suitably satisfied on the night and subsequently getting them in the mood for the remainder of the weekend.

Malcolm Wood

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