Hendon Band

Conductor: David Rudd
Southend Citadel
Saturday 15th November

Taking over the leadership of a band following an extended period under one conductor must be quite a daunting prospect, and the audience gathered to hear Hendon Band were interested to see how the band is faring under the direction of David Rudd. 

Although the concert was held in Southend Citadel, they were hosting it on behalf of the Leigh on Sea Corps, whose Commanding Officers, Majors John and Teresa Carmichael, were formerly stationed at Hendon. 

Sparkling

Right from the opening march, William Gordon’s sparkling “Salvation’s Song”, it was apparent that the band is responding well to David’s direction. Hendon are a large band, but the playing throughout the evening was well controlled, taking due account of the acoustics of the hall, and with no over-blowing.

Dynamic contrasts were very effective, with some impressive fortepianos, and the band’s seven horns produced a lovely round sound in the central section, featuring the melody “The Bells of St Mary”, associated in the Salvation Army with the words “We’ll sing in the morning the songs of Salvation”.

David Catherwood wrote “Spirit of Life” as a choral piece, but in his own reworking for band it made for a reflective interlude before the opening prayer. Once again, the balance in the band was first class, with the decorative figures always being made subservient to the melody.

Excellent work

The band continued with the overture to “Russlan and Ludmilla” (Glinka), arranged by Michael Kenyon, who was at one time Bandmaster at Hadleigh Temple. The unison runs at the opening were very well handled, with excellent work by Steve Moulton on tympani.

The bright cornet sound contrasted with the smooth euphonium and baritone melody, and the later scales on cornet and soprano were tucked in neatly. Also impressive was the linking of phrases between the various sections, with a very even sound as the figures descended through the band.

David Rudd then introduced the band in an easy, relaxed style that continued throughout the evening. David Daws was the first soloist of the evening, presenting “Hejre Kati” (arr Freeh), followed by Terry Camsey’s “The Victor”. 

David’s reading of the former demonstrated some typically individual touches, sounding quite spontaneous but no doubt meticulously prepared, with lip trills and glissandi, and a brilliant flourish at the finish.

Supported well

The band supported well, with a full, warm sound in the opening tutti, and maintaining a steady rhythm in the up-tempo passages. The Terry Camsey number, one of many lyrical pieces he has produced over the years, proved an ideal foil to the thrills and spills of the main solo, allowing David to display a beautifully clear tone, and ending unusually with a major seventh in the quiet final chord.

Major John Carmichael, Leigh on Sea’s Commanding Officer, gave David Rudd a mild reproof for not giving him the opportunity for an official welcome to the band earlier in the programme, before Principal Trombone Paul Hopkins stepped forward to play Peter Graham’s lively “Fiesta!”

The band slipped neatly into Latin mode, even if the playing was at times a little heavy for the soloist, who produced a commanding performance across a wide range, with a fluid solo line.

Entertaining 

The band then launched into “Praising”, a recent work by Danish Salvationist Erik Silfverberg. It is hard to believe that the composer is now in his seventieth year, but this bright number showed that he has lost none of his ability to write entertaining music.

Using a contemporary setting of the words “Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine”, there were some very effective passages where the bass line dropped off, leaving minimal harmony and the rhythm section to carry on, the four-man percussion team – including former Hendon bandsman Stephen Yaldon, co-opted for the night – being given their chance to shine.

The third soloist was Stephen Hopkins, well known as a sympathetic accompanist, who revealed a light and delicate touch with Mark Hayes’ arrangement of “We are an offering”. Although the promised words failed to materialise on the screen, his playing transported the listeners through a range of moods, with the repeated phrase “We are an offering” being clearly discernable, particularly in the closing bars.

Song of Courage

David Rudd had already referred to several friends and former comrades of Hendon Band who were in the audience, and before introducing Eric Ball’s “Song of Courage” he pointed out the presence of Graham Rogers, at the age of 92 possibly the oldest living Hendon bandsman.

Eric Ball penned the “Prayer for Courage” which forms the central section of the piece in the dark days of 1939, and David Rudd pointed out that 1961, when “Song of Courage” itself was published, was also quite an unsettled time. The work is full of contrasts, between order and chaos, conflict and peace, and offered ample opportunity for the band’s soloists, with fine contributions from flugel, cornet, soprano and euphonium.

The sound was well balanced throughout, although there were moments of uncertainty and untidiness. The six-strong trombone section made much of their entry with “Stand like the brave”, and Paul Hopkins negotiated the tricky trombone solo without mishap.

Big band

During the interval, the platform arrangement was changed to a big-band style formation, with the horns, baritones and euphoniums seated in one row, with the basses behind, cornets divided either side of the trombones, all standing, and the drum kit positioned centre-stage, Steve Yaldon and Steve Moulton sharing the work-load throughout the second half.

As the band took to the stage attired in a mix of red, yellow and blue polo shirts, Peter Graham’s “Ask!” saw the basses, bass trombone and percussion start things off, followed by the tenor trombones, saxhorns and cornets respectively. It was a lively and effective rendition, with the trombones in particular projecting the melody well over the band.

This was followed by the congregational song “There’s Power in the blood”, accompanied with verve by Stephen Hopkins at the piano, with a change of key for the final chorus and an augmentation of the tune at the end that caught many of the congregation unawares.

Euphonium soloist Anthony Scannell made light of the technical difficulties in the late Chris Mallet’s “Travelling Along”, dispatching the runs with alacrity and soaring over the band in the slow middle section.

Sympathetic

He was aided by a generally sympathetic, pared down accompaniment, with an effective trombone quartet in the first slow passage, although the co-ordination of some of the cornet phrases was hampered by the players being separated at either side of the band. Tony’s ringing top F finish led to thunderous applause from an appreciative audience.

Barrie Gott’s “Light-Walk” may have caused some consternation when first presented by the ISB under Ray Bowes but it has since become an established item in the repertoire of bands both within the Salvation Army and outside. The band performed it with great enthusiasm, aided by a striking flugel horn solo by Nick Tiplady.

Showpiece

Another showpiece that has been around for some considerable time is Norman Bearcroft’s “Just Like John”, written for the then recently-reformed Canadian Staff Band. Inspired by the “how do you do” testimony periods that were once popular in Salvation Army meetings, various individuals and sections are called upon to share the spotlight, some on more than one occasion.

Using the tune “I want be ready . . . to walk in Jerusalem, just like John” the band faced up to the challenge well, with horns, basses (joined by euphoniums), solo trombone (another fiendishly high passage for Paul Hopkins), percussion, trombone and cornet, euphoniums and baritones all taking their turn, with a nicely understated contribution from the flugel.

Quieten mood

To quieten the mood before the scripture presentation, brought by current Hendon Commanding Officer Major Paul Hilditch, the trombone section was featured in Olaf Ritman’s setting of “When I survey”.

This uses the folk tune “O Waley, waley”, presented initially by the trombones in unison, before blossoming out into harmony, with some quite astringent chords being employed at times. Generally, the trombone sound came across quite well, although there were a couple of instances where bells dropped a little, causing the sound to be muffled somewhat by the music stands.

After the Major had spoken, Roger Cobb came forward from his place in the percussion section to sing “From a distance”. Roger’s solos have long been a feature on Hendon’s programmes and he did not disappoint, despite some slight problems with the amplification, which tended to boom a little when he was singing in the lower register.

Last Amen

On behalf of Leigh on Sea Corps, Bandmaster Steve Jones thanked all who had made the evening a success, including the hosts at Southend Citadel and those who had worked hard behind the scenes.

The final programmed item was Peter Graham’s “The Last Amen”, featuring several contemporary worship songs and concluding with the “Amen” from the song “Total Praise”.

From a busy, almost frantic opening few bars, the first melody emerged, the unsettling harmonies seeming to pose a number of questions, and this use of unexpected chords continued as the piece progressed.

After the Latin American inspired “Great is the Lord” a euphonium link, over a sustained trombone chord and a cymbal roll, led into “Make me a channel of they peace”, the melody of which was beautifully restrained over a sparse accompaniment. As the work drew to a close with the reprise of “Father we love you” and the triumphant “Amen” the music grew in volume and instensity, testing the acoustic to the full but staying just within acceptable limits.

Brief pause

There was a brief pause while young Andrew Scannell took his place on side drum for the band’s encore, a stirring presentation of Wilfred Heaton’s march “Praise”.

His crisp playing contributed much to the success of the performance, and with Roger Cobb on bass drum and Stephen Yaldon on cymbals Staff Bandsman Steve Moulton could just sit at the back and enjoy the music!

With several other young players spread around the band, and maintaining such high standards of both playing and presentation, it bodes well for the future of Hendon Band under David Rudd’s leadership.

Peter Bale

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