Hendon Band & New York Staff Band

Conductors: David Rudd & Ronald Waiknoris
All Angels
Queen Elizabeth Hall
London
Saturday 16th January

The decision to return to the Queen Elizabeth Hall for this prestigious event in the Salvation Army’s music-making calendar was vindicated by the demand for tickets, and there were very few empty seats as Hendon Band prepared to march their American guests onto the stage to the accompaniment of “Stars and Stripes forever”. 

Standing

They reached their places just in time to take over for the second half of the piece, upping the tempo somewhat and giving the audience a first opportunity to appreciate their fine soprano player, Christopher Ward. Following his obligato, the band gradually took to their feet, led by the trombones, until the item ended with the whole band standing and facing the audience.

New Yorkers

The New Yorkers continued with two items, “Intrada on Monkland” (Stephen Bulla) and “Be thou my vision” (William Himes). The former, based on the tune associated with the words “Let us with a gladsome mind” featured an imposing opening, with ostinato figures on baritones and euphoniums contrasting with delicate phrases on cornets and horns, whilst the latter offered an opportunity for the band’s fine horn section to show their paces with a sustained melodic line, complete with cornet obbligato.

The compère for the evening was Colonel Robert Redhead, and after offering prayer he invited any former members of Hendon Band who were present to stand and be greeted by the audience, pointing out that it was their commitment in past days that had led to the current band being able to celebrate 120 years of music-making.

Tight control

Hendon Band, with David Daws once more in the end seat, ably supported by Philip Cobb sitting 2nd man down, presented as their first item Dudley Bright’s “Paean” – something of a surprise to Dudley himself, who was unaware it was to be on the programme! 

Written for the 150th anniversary of the Swiss Christian Band Association it also marked Dudley’s recovery from major surgery. David Rudd did well to bring out such a tight rendition from his large forces, and there was also some very delicate and controlled playing.

Vocal Crossover

The vocal group All Angels was formed in 2006, and aims to bridge the gap between classical and light music. They commenced their first set with an a capella rendition of “I dream of Jeannie with the light brown hair” that was somewhat reminiscent of some of Percy Granger’s writing for unaccompanied voices. 

This was followed by “Blowin’ in the wind” (sung to a backing track) and a compilation of “I loves you Porgy” and “Summertime” from Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess”. Although they were able to blend their voices effectively when required it is clear that they also value their individuality, shown in both in their vocal characteristics and in their choice of outfit.

Helping hand(s) from across the sea

The withdrawal of one of their percussionists due to sudden illness had caused the New York Staff Band to drop “Ol’ Man River” from their programme in Maidenhead, but they were able to go ahead on Saturday due to the assistance of Steve Moulton, of Hendon, the ISB and Her Majesty’s Coldstream Guards, who was co-opted to tackle the all-important kit part – complete with borrowed NYSB tunic! 

Mark Freeh, an NYSB alumni, is one of the relatively small number of arrangers who are comfortable working both in the sphere of the big band and the brass band and the up-tempo setting worked very well, the band adjusting to the style with the right combination of precision and freedom of interpretation. 

Some of the piano playing was particularly impressive, never losing the impetus of the music, and there was a cheeky tag between soprano and bass trombone, together with several crucial drum breaks.

Images of Brazil

Hendon’s major contribution to the programme was Stephen Ponsford’s “Cristo Redentor”. The title refers to the huge statue of Christ which looms over Rio de Janeiro, and Stephen conjures up a picture of the city, including references to the Barry Manilow hit “Copa Cabana”, before concentrating on the picture of Christ as the Redeemer. 

After the hustle and bustle of the opening the horns and baritones introduced the melody “Lord, I lift your name on high”, before allusions to the tune “Ochills” and the triumphant presentation of “There is a redeemer”, with upward sweeping euphonium runs cutting across the texture in the closing bars.

Songs from the classics

All Angels returned for their second spot having changed into purple dresses, but each to their own design, opening with the “Flower duet” from “Lacme” (Delibes), in which they effectively moved away from the microphones for the final phrase, allowing their unadulterated tones to be heard. 

This was followed by the “Canzonetta Sull Aria” from Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro” and a version linking “Nimrod” (Elgar) to the text “Sancte Deus”, the latter not quite so successful as the stress patterns of the words did not seem to coincide with the music particularly well.

Challenging new work

The first half closed with “Hope”, a new work from the pen of the NYSB’s Principal Trombone Dorothy Gates. 

She explained, in conversation with Robert Redhead, that she had wanted the music to represent “a voice for the innocents of war”, and had designed the piece in three linked movements, with the headings “Conflict”, “Despair” and “Hope”. In the austere opening fragments of melody emerged from a bleak landscape, a sustained horn figure building in intensity leading to a depiction of warfare, including the vivid depiction of shellfire, complete with strident percussion, rapidly descending scales across the band and trombone glissandi. 

The remorseless tread of the second movement, under solos from tuba, euphonium, cornet and fluge,l seemed to be denying any means of escape, until a quotation from “Jesus loves the little children” heralded the start of the final part. Starting with a bass ostinato, rising glissandi from the trombones seemed to add to the sense of optimism as the melody “In Christ there is no East or West” gradually gained supremacy.

Barrie Gott in swing mood

Latecomers for the second half of the concert moved briskly to their seats as Hendon presented a sparkling performance of Barrie Gott’s “Swingtime religion”, with Philip Cobb playing the solo on trumpet in his own inimitable fashion. 

The band then accompanied the congregation in a rousing rendition of “All hail the power of Jesus’ name” (arr Richard Phillips), before the New York Staff Band continued with “New York, New York” (Fred Ebb & John Kander, arr Goff Richards). Once again, they really seemed to settle into the groove, with excellent work in particular from the horn and trombone sections.

Solo for two!

Andrew Garcia then rose from the seat in the band for “Blessed Assurance” (arr Stephen Bulla). Demonstrating fine control in the low-lying flugel part, he provided tasteful elaboration during the second verse. 

This version is written for the soloist to start on flugel and then switch to trumpet, and just as one was wondering where his trumpet was, up popped Philip Cobb to play the closing section, accompanied by Hendon Band. Philip, appointed last year as co-principal trumpet in the London Symphony Orchestra, demonstrated his skill with a heart-felt reading that dominated the texture, culminating in a thrilling top F.

From circus to silence

It was back to the New York Staff band for a brisk run through Stephen Bulla’s “Charlotte celebration”, a circus-style march with more than a nod towards Erik Leidzen’s “Manhattan” and Paul Drury’s “Jubilee”, before All Angels stepped forward for their last set of songs. 

Their arrangement of “Make me a channel of your peace” was most attractive, with much use of flute, piccolo, oboe and cor anglais in the accompaniment. This was followed by “I’ll be there” and then they moved the microphone stands out of the way for an a capella rendition of “Mr Sandman”. 

There was a moment of humour as they dedicated their final planned number, “I’ll fly” to tuba player Martin Blessitt, but they then produced one further item, a delicious rendition of Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence”, with lush harmonies and suspensions in abundance. 

Introducing this final song, one of them referred to the fact that she felt that a capella quartet music was her favourite, and it did seem to be that those items were the most successful on the night, whereas the reverb of the accompanied items could become a little wearing after a while. Before they left the stage they were each presented with a bouquet by one of the bandsman, who in turn received a kiss.

Song from the Psalms

Colonel Redhead based his scripture thoughts on Psalm 103, as reworked by Darren Bartlett for his song “The Lord is Gracious”. The words speak of God’s grace and compassion towards mankind, and the Colonel emphasised the need for Christians to proclaim that gospel, not just in words but through their life and actions. 

Hendon Band then presented Olaf Ritman’s sympathetic transcription of the song, with Philip Cobb taking the solo.

Massed finale

The bands then united to play Bill Gordon’s arrangement of “Excerpts from the Finale of Symphony No 4” by Tchaikovsky, under the baton of Staff Bandmaster Stephen Cobb. 

Whilst this is an impressive arrangement, the layout of the band did not really enable them to do it justice, being very spread out, and the sections not all seated together. Whilst it had been a long evening and time was at a premium, another couple of minutes spent re-arranging the seating could have paid dividends.

The performance of “The Redcliffe March” which followed the Benediction was rather superfluous, with many already leaving the hall to set out on their homeward journey. In retrospect, it may have been better to have let the audience hear the New York Staff Band’s exquisite singing of “Rock of Ages” with which they had closed their programme the previous evening.

Peter Bale

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