RNCM Festival of Brass: Black Dyke

Conductor: Dr Nicholas Childs
Soloists: David Thornton, Brett Baker
RNCM Manchester
Friday 22nd January

Black Dyke opened the 2010 RNCM Festival of Brass by brushing off their pre contest season cobwebs with a concert of increasing impressiveness under the baton of Nicholas Childs.

It featured ensemble performances of purpose and quality, and two soloists of commanding musicality and technical virtuosity.

Lapses

Although there were occasions when there were lapses in execution and balance, the overall impression was one of control and precision, heard to fine effect with the opening ‘Fanfare in Jubilo’ by Thomas Doss.

The medieval echoes and modernistic ciphers provided an effective introductory aperitif for what was to follow. His forthcoming European test piece should be one to look forward to on this, admittedly fleeting, evidence. 

Exceptional

What did follow was an exceptional performance of Torstein Aagaard- Nilsen’s new ‘Euphonium Concerto’, written for soloist David Thornton.  Although of classical construction, the architecture was, as we have come to expect from the Norwegian composer, tellingly individual and original.

The opening movement was inspired by Usain Bolt’s electrifying Olympic 100 meter run in Beijing, and with the use of non instrumental vocal motifs and dislocated rhythmic patterns (based on the Jamaican’s 9.58 seconds time), the ingrained mental imagery of the achievement was captured with a surreal sense of joyous bewilderment – right to the final pants of celebratory exhaustion to close.

The beautifully realised middle section was almost allegorical – a personal interpretation of the meaning of the colour Blue. Unlike Vinter’s treatment in ‘Spectrum’ of verve and technical bravura, this was an exploration of its melancholic hue: austere and fragile, although certainly not cold or unforgiving. 

To close, a movement of extremes – as the soloist battles against coldness (quick fingered filigree work breaking the confines of the glacial ensemble casing), eventually finding a thrilling vocal resonance through the instrument.

It was a performance of maturity and understanding from David Thornton.

Surreal

Sandy Smith’s excellent arrangement of James Macmillan’s ‘Stomp’ provided an equally surreal quasi historical sojourn – a ménage a trios of Mozart, Tchaikovsky and the tight rope walking Elvira Madigan having a night on the tiles in what appeared to be an Irish theme pub somewhere between Kilkenny and Kilmarnock.

The five year wait for Macmillan’s proposed major work for Black Dyke can’t end soon enough.

Highlights

A slightly ragged performance of ‘Within Blue Empires’ closed the first half.

The MD provided the audience with a ‘highlights’ introduction of Paul Lovatt-Cooper’s transparent work, and what followed was an equally transparent performance – a balance of atmosphere and energetic drive - despite the occasional moments of unease at admittedly frighteningly quick tempos.

Joyous

After the interval, a lively little Eric Ball march, ‘Torch of Freedom’, played with a witty sense of joyousness, followed by Brett Baker’s individual account of the Erik Leidzen ‘Concertino’, which was preceded by a detailed introduction by Ronald Holz.

Some of the soloist’s touches (including the ear piercing last note) where perhaps a little too individual in straying from the original, but overall it was a performance of virtuosity and purpose. 

Full mode

By this time Dyke, in full contesting mode, produced their best playing of the night with an outstanding rendition of ‘The Torchbearer’. This was warmly cultured playing, broadly laid out by the MD with viscous phrasing and emotional clarity, enjoyed fully by an appreciative audience.

To end, a personal tribute from the MD to a life long Black Dyke supporter Ged Whittingham - ‘a Salvation Army bandsman with a Black Dyke mentality’ as Ged’s wife told Nicholas Childs on a recent visit to his home.

The final two movements from Malcolm Arnold’s ‘Cornish Dances’ provided an appropriate encore to an enjoyable and substantive opening concert of the RNCM Festival.

Iwan Fox

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