Royal Welsh College Brass Band
Conductor: Dr Robert Childs
Friday 8th November

A trio of distinctive compositional voices were featured in this popular lunchtime series in heart of the Welsh capital.

On the face of it there is seemingly little to connect Malcom Arnold, Hans Werner Henze and Edward Gregson, yet here they sat comfortably together like three old friends respectfully nodding in appreciation of each other’s interpretive dance expressions.

Nimble portraits 

Arnold’s rumbunctious ‘Four Scottish Dances’  was originally written in 1957 for the BBC Light Music Festival and was later adapted for brass band by Ray Farr. 

Its quartet of nimble character portraits - the first as Arnold stated, "in the style of a strathspey",  the second "a lively reel",  the third "a calm summer's day in the Hebrides"  and the last, "a lively fling",  were played to reveal the shifts in mood and character without recourse to the shortbread tin of Highland mannerisms.

Acerbic touchstone

The complex characteristics of Henze’s remarkable ‘Ragtimes and Habaneras’  are much harder to capture; an acerbic touchstone of slyly subversive wit, easily misunderstood as the  11 miniature stylistic variants (with no percussion) are brought to the stage like passing scenes in a Kurt Weill opera (the final section especially) . 

the acute detours of musical direction from tango to rumba, foxtrot to di son neatly portrayed with agile understanding from his young performers. 

Commissioned by Grimethorpe Colliery Band in 1975 at a time when Elgar Howarth enjoyed a close working relationship with the composer, it is a masterpiece for the medium unlike any other. 

He would have enjoyed the expressive performance that was curated by Dr Robert Childs; the acute detours of musical direction from tango to rumba, foxtrot to di son neatly portrayed with agile understanding from his young performers. 

Time reprise

A timely 40th anniversary appreciation of Edward Gregson’s 'Dances & Arias'  rounded a short, but substantive hour off.

Like Henze and Arnold it’s retained its compact freshness and inventive rigour even in reaching middle age thanks to an injection of youthful vibrancy.   

His second commission for the National Championships of Great Britain bridges the seven-year gap from 'Connotations' in a series alternating fast and slow 'Dance' and Aria' sections to open pathways to future works laid out before the listener.

Like Henze and Arnold it’s retained its compact freshness and inventive rigour even in reaching middle age thanks to an injection of youthful vitality.   

Iwan Fox