Bramwell Tovey’s remarkable ability to inspire, saw the talented players of the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain produce performances well beyond their musical years in Bristol on Saturday evening.

Plaudits

The MDs inherent generosity of spirit ensured that the plaudits will have been deservedly taken by the 80 youngsters (23 making their debut) who clearly revelled under his direction, yet it remained perfectly clear from first note till last that this was high class music making galvanised by the man at the helm.

Much of that was due to the excellent choice of repertoire on display; from century old marches and spiritual heritage to major test pieces, contemporary jazz and classy lollipop treats.   

Delight

As a result, ambition was tempered with reality, with the deliberate absence of musical artifice a welcome delight. 

It was an approach that brought the very best out of the eager performers who met the challenges posed by the intriguing palette of genres with mature aplomb.

Top section banding spies will have noted the stylish contributions of all the main solo players, whilst it was equally as pleasing to hear a robust tuba section that offered warmth and precision, and an intelligently led percussion team that added colour and texture without once overpowering the ensemble in a lively acoustic.

Simplicity

The marches ‘Punchinello’ and ‘The Cossack’ were played with leg stretching purpose without losing their sense of bombast, whilst the lightweight treats of ‘Malaguena’, the wittily choreographed ‘Surrey with the Fringe on Top’, and the salty brine of ‘Fantasy on British Sea Songs’ were delivered with classy confidence. In contrast, ‘All in the April Evening’ was shaped with affecting simplicity.

Context

It was however the rather naively optimistic ‘Triumph of Peace’ by Eric Ball, written at a politically troubled time in the 1930s, that was especially resonant.

Its ageless themes of conflicting temporal and spiritual power gained an added political context by the MDs illuminating reference to Neville Chamberlain’s empty rhetoric of ‘peace for our time’.

During these current days of international strife and tension, it was an aspect not lost you suspect on the young, worldly wise performers, conducted with engaging refinement by Eoin Tonner.  

Viscosity

It also offered a neat counterpoint to the more openly imaginative, relaxed viscosity of Andy Scott’s ‘A World Within’, which was played with a free flowing understanding. 

Trumpeter Andrew McCandless was an engaging soloist in the colourful Arutiunian ‘Trumpet Concerto’ and the fizzy ‘Herje Kati’, played with bubbling energy, whilst the major ensemble works of ‘Paganini Variations’ and ‘Essence of Time’ were full of character and nuance – with the player’s obviously responding to the MDs subtle appreciation of style and tempo.

A vocal encore of ‘The Cossack’ sung at a youthfully high tessitura, and a thoughtfully played hymn ‘The Day Thou Gavest’ rounded off an evening of excellence – inspired by a conductor of deliciously rare musical gifts.   

Iwan Fox