Cory Band

Leeds Best of Brass Concert Series
Conductor: Dr Robert Childs
Morley Town Hall
Saturday 27th February

As part of a series of concerts making up the Leeds International Concert Season, Cory Band were welcomed back to Morley Town Hall by a near capacity audience eagerly anticipating an evening of top class music making by the band currently ranked No.1 in the world. 

They were not disappointed as the band took the enthusiastic listeners on a musical journey “par excellence”, ably compered by Simon Lindley.

Sparkling

The band began the evening with a sparkling rendition of Wilfred Heaton’s “Praise”, a well known and well used march.  The seemingly effortless rendition, combined with superb control and technique was an indication of the sheer quality that was to follow in the rest of the programme.

Spanish or Russian?

Interestingly, the majority of musical works with Spanish themes have been written by Russian and Italian composers, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Capriccio Espagnol” is one such example.  In playing the music with a lively tempo, the clarity of execution was exemplary and made for a very exciting performance.  

Two definitions of the word “Charivari” are i) a discordant mock serenade to newlyweds, made with pans, kettles, etc and ii) a confused noise or din.  This was certainly not the case when recently appointed principal cornet Tom Hutchinson to perform this technically demanding cornet solo. 

Tom showed his wide-ranging abilities, tackling the technical passages with consummate ease and showing the quality of his lyrical playing in the slower middle section of the solo.

The journey continued but the mood changed somewhat when the band played the “Elegy” from John Ireland’s “A Downland Suite”.  Composed in 1932, this music was written during a period when the Brass Band medium was drawing works from some well known composers, of which Ireland was one.  The work demonstrated Ireland’s sympathy for the medium and the composer’s remarkable understanding of musical form. 

The tender and expressive Elegy features a long drawn out melody which is beautifully and sensitively scored.  The whole band to a person gave the music the justice it deserved.

Bonnie Scotland

The next port of call was Scotland, in the form of the trombone solo “Blue Bells of Scotland” written by Arthur Pryor (trombonist in the JP Sousa band) and brilliantly performed by Christopher Thomas.  Chris demonstrated the full range of the trombone’s capabilities and his technique was top drawer.  Tight, controlled accompaniment in the band made for a thoroughly enjoyable performance.

Testing test piece

The band’s final offering of the first half was the music selected as the test piece for championship section bands at this year’s area contests. 

“English Heritage” by George Lloyd is one of the works he wrote for brass band, and is technically very demanding, asking much of all players in the band.  Having been used as a test piece previously, it will certainly be a real test for the competing bands this time round.  Cory’s performance was of a very high quality and showed the strength they have throughout the whole band.

Following an interval during which much conversation took place about the exhilarating first half performance by Cory, the concert resumed with a spectacular piece “Into the Light” by Philip Wilby. 

Some rearrangement of the band formation had taken place during the break, many of the audience fascinated by the moving around of repiano player Richard Davies who introduced the music with an opening motif played from the balcony, then again form the rear of the ground level of the hall, and finally at the front of the hall below the stage.  The performance drew prolonged applause from the audience.

Strung along

There are many examples of orchestral works that have been scored for brass band.  The band’s tenor horn soloist, Owen Farr, took the stage to bring a performance of his own arrangement of the 'Finale from Haydn’s Cello Concerto'.  A small ensemble comprising repiano, 2nd cornet, baritone, trombone and Eb bass formed to provide some of the accompaniment. 

This was a high quality rendition by the soloist, demonstrating fabulous technical skill and a warm sound throughout.

Composer in residence Gareth Wood’s “Mist of Afan Forest” is ethereal music and depicts the forest near Swansea.  The composer plays closely to the band soloists, especially star euphonium player David Childs, and allowed the band to ably showcase their terrific ensemble playing.

With kit percussionist to the fore, the band struck up with “Tribute to the King of Swing”, a tribute to the late great Glenn Miller.  In a big band formation, the band moved in line and rhythm with the music, showcasing band soloists again (including Christopher Turner on trumpet). 

It was music that got the audience moving in time to the music, and brought the cornets to the front of the stage at the end of the piece to round off a tremendous display.

Final soloist

David Childs was the band’s final soloist of the evening, featuring Peter Meechan’s work “Flight to Sparta”.  This music is taken from the composer’s Euphonium concerto and was premiered a couple of weeks ago by the soloist. 

In music that utilises a less usual approach, passages were heard where just soloist and percussion were playing.  The slow opening is almost a decoy to the fast section that followed, and afforded the soloist an opportunity to show his unequalled technical ability (including a cadenza of breathtaking brilliance).  This was modern music at its very best, and comes before David flies to New York to give the world premiere of Karl Jenkins’ Euphonium Concerto.

Marching on

The band’s programme was brought to a stirring conclusion in Respighi’s “March from the Pines of Rome”.  Depicting the march home of Roman legions from battle, the music starts quietly with the continuous beat of the legionnaires’ marching and progresses through to a magnificent climax. 

With some great solo work from flugel and euphonium, it was music to stir the heart and provided a fitting end to a marvellous evening.

Dr Childs took the microphone to thank the audience for attending and introduced the band’s encore piece, “Folk Festival” by Shostakovich. 

Overall, this was a concert that provided much variety and interest, and on the evidence of this evening’s concert, the band is in great shape to remain as world number 1 band.  Those challenging for honours in this season’s contest arena will have a real fight on their hands to dislodge Cory.

Alun Perry

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