RNCM - Desford Band

Conductor: Russell Gray
2009 RNCM Festival of Brass
RNCM, Manchester
Sunday 1st February

Forward motion: Desford's basses take aim and fire
Photo: Ian Clowes

More pictures at: http://www.pbase.com/troonly/0901_rncm_festival

It was in 1993, the year of 'The Devil and Deep Blue Sea' that Desford last played at the Festival of Brass and after a long absence, it was good to welcome the band back to this year’s Festival as reigning Masters Champions in the wake of a resurgent 2008 for the Midlanders. 

Old stagers

On that occasion, back in the days when the Festival was still held under the auspices of the BBC in the BBC Manchester studios, the band was conducted by Stephen Roberts although the course of history has seen to it that much has changed with both the band and the Festival during the intervening sixteen years. 

Looking around the stands though, we reckon there were three old stagers that can lay claim to having stood the test of time with the band. Whether they will admit to it is another matter!

Tantalising foretaste

With Russell Gray at the helm, Desford’s programme ranged from an early masterpiece in the shape of Herbert Howell’s 'Pageantry', via the Festival theme of Gilbert Vinter to Peter Graham, a world premiere by Kenneth Hesketh and James Macmillan’s 'Jebel', the latter a tantalising foretaste of things to come from MacMillan in the wake of news that he will be writing for Black Dyke in the coming few years.    

Gilbert Vinter’s 'Symphony of Marches' is in some ways one of his most underrated works, a sequence of three marches each of which explores a different facet of the form. Desford’s bold presentation of the opening movement got things off to an authoritative start, contrasting starkly with the dark, unsettling atmosphere Russell Gray and the band captured in the distorted funeral march that follows. 

Whimsical

The playful opening of the third movement is far more typical of the whimsical side of Vinter’s nature that we know well from works such as 'Salute to Youth' and with Russell Gray’s careful attention to the nuances of the score, it was an uplifting start to the concert from the band.

Exploited talents

Kenneth Hesketh’s music has been a regular fixture at the Festival of Brass in recent years, although he remains a composer whose talents have not been fully exploited by the band world. Last year it was his “Infernal Ride” that we heard played by Leyland, whilst this year it fell to Desford to give the world premiere of his 'Elegy', an extended ten minute slow movement, recreated from the first movement of an early Symphony written by the composer during his teens. 

A work such as this deserves to be heard, yet given that it is never likely to be selected as a test piece or programmed in an average band concert, the value of the Festival of Brass in providing a platform for music of this quality remains utterly essential. 

'Elegy' is in essence a long, slowly unfurling melodic line, growing in intensity and complexity to reach two powerful climaxes before the process effectively reverses itself to reach a hushed conclusion.

Fine ear

Hesketh has a fine ear for texture and colour and his prominent use of tuned percussion, marked by a demanding but highly effective vibraphone part, made for one of the more atmospheric and intriguing experiences of the Festival. Like Peter Meechan and Andy Scott in Foden’s programme of the night before, it is to be hoped that there is more to come from Ken Hesketh in the future, with Desford giving the work a worthy first performance.

Uneven

Having set a high standard in the opening two works, the performance of 'Pageantry' that brought the first half of the concert to a close was somewhat more uneven in execution. Russell Gray shaped the music with a good deal of sensitivity and showed a highly natural feel for the melodic line of the score, but there were times when it didn’t entirely knit together. 

Most effective was the haunting atmosphere of the second movement and the majestic conclusion to 'Jousts' whilst Gary Wyatt played the opening of the final movement with considerable panache. Overall though, the feeling was of a performance that wasn’t quite the sum of its parts.

International reputation

It was perhaps fortuitous that just a couple of days before the Festival of Brass, Black Dyke announced that James MacMillan had been commissioned to write for the band. MacMillan is a composer that besides having a huge international reputation has close links with Manchester in his role as Guest Conductor with the BBC Philharmonic. 

We have a three year wait for his work for Dyke, although 'Jebel', a brief yet highly dramatic work that takes its name from the Arabic word for hill (a reference to Jordanhill School in Glasgow that commissioned the work) provides us with a fascinating glimpse of what lies in store from a composer who has produced a consistent stream of sensational work in recent years. 

Powerful and exciting

MacMillan pits the steady pulse of bass drum and tubular bells against a slow chordal build up to a series of fanfares of increasing complexity. Gritty, powerful and immensely exciting, Desford seemed to be very much at home with the music and this is one of several recent works heard at the Festival that would benefit from a repeat performance very soon.

Of all the music by Gilbert Vinter heard at the Festival, his 'From the 17th Century, for Brass Quartet and Band', was perhaps the rarest example. Written in response to a request from David Read, then principal cornet of GUS, the work comprises four short arrangements of keyboard works in the French style, drawn from an original 'Concerto Grosso' consisting of eight such arrangements.

Skilfully scored

Skilfully scored by Vinter, with both delicacy and a wonderful feel for the chamber like textures he employs in the band parts, Desford’s quartet of Gary Wyatt and Dan Robson on cornet, Murray Borthwick on horn and Robin Taylor on euphonium, proved sensitive advocates of what is delightful, undemanding and unpretentious music. After the raw power of the MacMillan this was music of refreshing simplicity and style. 

Desford had been in action on Peter Graham’s 'Harrison’s Dream' at Butlin’s just a couple of weeks before the Festival, so the work was an apt choice with which to finish the band’s Festival programme. 

Tour de force

As a virtuosic tour de force, 'Harrison’s Dream' is a hugely challenging work, but it is the ability to capture what the composer describes as the human heart of the work that can often set the best performances apart. In this respect Desford were worthy of considerable praise, the haunting sounds of the sunken percussion following on from excellent playing in the slow central section of the piece. 

Thrilling conclusion

Elsewhere the mechanistic elements of the score sometimes lacked clarity and detail, although what it might have lacked in transparency it more than made for in sheer excitement, with a thrilling conclusion that elicited a clear reaction from the audience.     
                         
The band’s encore of 'A Letter from Home' by Pat Metheny, arranged in gloriously glowing colours, brought a suitably warm conclusion to a concert that despite occasional inconsistencies, offered a programme with something for everyone whilst placing Desford very close to being back to the peak of its powers.

Christopher Thomas '    

^back to top