Cory Band

RNCM Festival of Brass
Conductor: Dr Robert Childs
Soloist: Oliver Browne
Saturday 26th January

Cory’s performances at the RNCM Festival of Brass are always eagerly awaited.  The MD has this incredible knack of formulating a programme that is always fascinating, varied in style and pushes his band to the absolute maximum. 

There’s that real sense of pride from Cory that they’re able to participate in the weekend’s event and are determined to leave a real impression on the listener with their contribution.  

That may mean an awful lot of preparation but they know this event is one of the few occasions in the calendar year where they can play a full programme of serious repertoire – from premiere’s to a little gem unearthed from a bandroom somewhere that hasn’t been played for a long time.

A couple of years ago, Cory unleashed Pickard’s ‘Gaia Symphony’ in its 60 minute entirety, and it was more demanding work on the lips for 2008.

This year’s substantial works came in the form of an arrangement of George Lloyd’s ‘Symphony Number 10’, a premiere of ‘Actaeon’ by Gareth Wood and a reprise of their centenary celebrating ‘Year of the Dragon’.

‘Symphony No 10’ was performed after the band had got into their stride with a fine performance of Vaughan Williams’ ‘Prelude on Three Welsh Hymn Tunes’. 

The original composition is itself a substantial work, and Luc Vetommen’s arrangement for brass band maintained the wide range of colour and depth of emotion heard in the original.

Throughout, Lloyd’s vivid but very transparent style of writing was heard to great effect.  The entire band pulled out the stops with some fine ensemble work throughout with quality solo lines from Ian Williams, Michelle Ibbotson and Owen Farr to name just three.  How often the work will be played though remains to be seen, but it certainly made for interesting listening.

Gareth Wood, Cory’s Composer-in-Residence, wrote ‘Actaeon’ in 2006 and it’s another piece of epic proportions based along the lines of large symphonic tone poem.  Lasting around seventeen minutes, it’s very aggressive patina did not hid a number of extended periods of more restrained lyricism as the story of Actaeon and his horrid demise for spying on Artemis bathing in a stream is revealed in Technicolor glory.

With David Childs still recovering from his recent major surgery, Oliver Browne, the bands Eb bass player, and who is currently studying at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, performed Gregson’s ‘Tuba Concerto’, of which the central movement was beautifully portrayed in a performance of growing maturity.

For their Philip Sparke homage, Cory chose something very special indeed – the composer’s own ‘Year of the Dragon’. A magnificent piece of writing (although not ones of the composers own faves due to its lopsided construction) it was written for the back in 1984.
 
You’ve got to give it to the Welsh outfit. After a lip sapping programme they still pulled out all the stops to produce a musically satisfying interpretation with a ferocious ‘Toccata’ and edge of the seat ‘Finale’, not forgetting the lyrical excellence of Chris Thomas in the distinctive (but in the composer’s own mind – overlong), ‘Interlude’.

There was no encore (something which others bands should have done too this weekend  – you don’t get the LSO playing the Radetsky March as an encore to a Mahler Symphony now do you?) and the band fully deserved the extended applause for a contribution that was immensely satisfying.

Malcolm Wood

^back to top