National Youth Wind Orchestra of Great Britain

Conductor: Matthew George
Featuring: James Gourlay
Cadogan Hall
Thursday 9th April

The programme presented by the National Youth Wind Orchestra of Great Britain followed the tried and tested format, with a number of substantial works, including a couple transcribed for wind, and closing with somewhat lighter fare. 

High class music making

The audience at Cadogan Hall was surprisingly small for what was very high class music making, although they had presented the same programme the night before in Birmingham Town Hall. 

The conductor for this year’s course was American Matthew George, Professor of Music and Director of Bands at the University of St Thomas in St Paul, Minnesota. From his first entry onto the stage, dressed in a most impressive modern-style jacket, it was clear that he had developed an excellent rapport with his young charges.

Fitting challenge

The programme opened with “Profanation from Jeremiah Symphony No 1” (Leonard Bernstein transcribed Bencriscutto) which proved a fitting challenge for such a virtuosic ensemble. From the sparsely scored woodwind opening the music developed quickly, with running quavers across the ensemble which were not quite together at times. 

Players were very exposed, and there was a slight tendency to hold back. The young trombone section was impressive throughout the evening, although from their position towards the rear they seemed at times to have to push hard to be heard. 

General impression

As for a general impression of the music, think “West Side Story” with even more complex rhythms, giving plenty for the seven-strong percussion team to do, and indeed it was the timpani player who was brought to his feet first to receive applause at the end.

Martin Ellerby’s “Elgar Variations” was written for the European Brass Band Championships held in Birmingham in May 2007. The wind band transcription has been prepared to mark the 40th Anniversary of the National Youth Wind Orchestra, and was being premiered as part of this year’s course. 

Demands

Whilst the solos still place considerable demands on the players, with clarinet, oboe and flute featuring in the opening section, the work as a whole did not seem to pose so many problems for the overall ensemble, as the runs that are such a prominent feature fall more comfortably under the finger for the woodwind players. 

The horn section made a strong contribution, as did the trombones with their “Cockaigne”-like passages, whilst answering phrases were tossed around from section to section, commencing with tubas, euphoniums and bassoons rising up to the clarinets.

Fine work

There was some fine work on vibraphone, and the alto saxophone’s sustained solo was first-class, the composer commenting in the interval how the player had impressed him, as had the tone of the bass clarinettist. There were some interesting sonorities used, particularly the oboe solo backed by French horns, with interjections on the tubular bells, and the trombones made much of their brief glissandi. 

The euphonium coped well with her taxing solo, and the trumpets and horns soared over the ensemble towards the end. The “Enigma” pastiche sounded particularly well, starting on woodwinds, and it is to be hoped that the new transcription will make this fine piece available to a wider audience.

Puckish figure

Bruce Fraser’s “Tuba Concerto” now exists in three versions, for brass band, wind ensemble and orchestra, opening up more performance opportunities. It was written at the request of James Gourlay, and capitalises on his lively sense of fun and abounding energy. 

As the puckish figure of the soloist tripped onto the stage, eyes sparkling, it was clear that he, too, had developed a good relationship with the ensemble during their time together. He was certainly thrown in at the deep end, with the solo line extending over a very wide range in the opening bars, supported by a rhythmically varied accompaniment, with shot chords and changing metres. 

One passage which caused great interest and no little amusement called upon the soloist to sing the melody whilst playing a pedal note.

Stunning

A stunning cadenza led into the slow movement, where the soloist performed gentle arpeggio figures against a sustained saxophone melody (flugel horn, according to the brass-band-oriented programme notes!), with gentle trills on flutes and clarinets. 

There followed an effective passage where the tuba soloist joined with the four-strong trombone section, with sustained, sensitive playing from all concerned. The movement ended ambiguously, with the music left hanging unresolved, before the lively jig and reel of the finale.

The soloist started off unaccompanied, and was soon joined – at several octaves’ interval – by Sarah Haynes on piccolo, a player who shone throughout the evening, with impeccable intonation and a clear, pure tone. 

Cheeky

A slower 3/4 passage followed, full of playful touches and cheeky “asides” from the soloist, not to mention the occasional excursion into the stratosphere, before moving into a relaxed 7/8, that soon came to sound quite natural after the first bar or so. 

The closing reel brought more pyrotechnics and acrobatics before the piece drew to a close. James Gourlay was then presented with a gift which, from the shape of the packaging, appeared to be some more than welcome liquid refreshment!

Bleakness

The first half ended with “Senzalas, Maracutus e Qolombus”, by the Brazilian composer Hudson Nogueira, who bases much of his writing on Brazilian dance styles and folk music. The work portrays the influence of African culture on Brazilian culture, and opens by depicting the bleakness of the “Senzala”, the old accommodation set aside for slaves. 

The ensemble included prominent parts for harp and piano, the double bass player moving over to stand alongside them to the left of the stage. Pounding rhythms, set up initially by the percussion, led to stand-up solos from bassoon, oboe, trombone and trumpet. 

Initially to fairly spare accompaniment, with groups of instruments being used in turn, following a fugato section the backing filled out, with more regular rhythms but with no loss of excitement. 

Imagination

The music, reminiscent of Sensemaia, Revueltas or Villa-Lobos, had clearly caught the imagination of the players, who relished its complexity, and there was a real sense of exhilaration at the close.

Following the interval, the ensemble was enhanced by the presence of a contrabass clarinet and alto flute for Rolf Rudin’s atmospheric “Out of Nowhere”, based on mythical tales from Ireland concerning a group of ancient people who drove out the indigenous people and proceeded to rule the land. 

Shifting wash

At the start, piano and glockenspiel helped portray the unworldly landscape, set against a constantly shifting wash of sound from the woodwind. The brass entered with a series of menacing figures, with first flute then trumpet emerging from the swirling textures. An alto sax solo led to rippling runs and trills in the flutes and clarinets, before the tubular bells intoned a melodic figure, joined by glockenspiel.

As the music died away, a wordless chorus joined the woodwind to accompany solos by cor anglais and then alto flute, before the momentum increased, and the ensemble built powerfully from the bass up. Romantic passages followed, but always with an undercurrent of menace and uncertainty, before the music faded away in a haze of bitonality. 

The piece was commissioned by Matthew George and the University of St Thomas, and he proved a powerful advocate for a very striking work.

Inspired choice

Matthew proved to be an inspired choice to lead this year’s course, and his enthusiasm shone through all that took place. He was also full of praise for the team of back-stage helpers who had ensured everything had run smoothly, and for the dedication and concentration shown by the players at all times.

For the final item, he proceeded to take players and listeners on “a journey to a galaxy far, far away” with Donald Hunsberger’s arrangement of four movements from John Williams’ “Star Wars Trilogy”. “The Imperial March” opened with an appropriate feeling of menace, enhanced by the striking use of a metal pipe hit by a hammer, producing a bright sound that rang out clearly over the ensemble. 

Noble horn

Fluttering flutes were balanced by a noble horn melody before trumpets and trombones entered with the main theme. The driving rhythms were nicely together, with a uniform attack across the ensemble.

“Princess Leia’s Theme” brought a calmer interlude, with flute, bassoon and harp being joined by the oboe, before the first real French horn solo of the evening, although the section had featured at various points. Throughout this movement, the accompaniment was very gentle and delicate, particularly when supporting the sensual flute solo. 

Glow of warmth

There was a glow of warmth as the full ensemble joined together, dominated by high trumpet and horns, and the movement closed with a feature for oboe and alto flute.

In the programme notes, “The Battle in the Forest” was hailed as a hidden gem, and so it transpired, with a scherzo in the style of Prokofiev illustrating the efforts of the furry Ewoks to overcome the storm-troopers with their huge fighting machines. There was much screeching from the woodwind in response to the threatening tones of the brass, with twittering runs adding to the overall effect.

Yoda

The selection ended with “Yoda’s Theme and Star Wars Main Theme”, featuring horn, oboe and cor anglais against flute and clarinet crotchet accompaniment, with a sustained piccolo note leading into the main theme. No Maurice Murphy moment in this arrangement, with horns and trombones dominant rather than trumpets, but building up into an impressive, if rather abrupt, finish. 

Although somewhat lighter in nature, this effective arrangement still proved quite a test, and the ensemble drew out the various tone colours very well, with particular reference to the additional instruments such as alto flute, cor anglais, bass and contrabass clarinets and contra bassoon for their contributions.

Appreciation

The audience may not have been particularly large, but they left the performers in no doubt as to their appreciation of their efforts. Hopes rose that there may have been an encore as the players resumed their seats, but it was only so that Matthew George could stand them up once more to acknowledge the applause. 

It had been an excellent evening and all the players had acquitted themselves very well, particularly the various soloists.

Peter Bale

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