Conductor: Paul Holland
Newbury Spring Festival
Newbury Corn Exchange
Saturday 23rd May

On a balmy evening in Newbury it was title winning confidence rather than mere artisan sweat that oozed from a newly crowned European champion, as Flowers gave a hugely impressive endorsement of their elite level musical credentials.

Fresh from their Linz triumph it was a display that would not have been overshadowed by any of the high profile talent (the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra were performing across the road) showcased at this major festival in the past fortnight. 

Featuring two major test-pieces, a brace of world premieres and a series of original commissions it provided an informed, and equally well-basted audience with a concert of considerable scope and quality directed by Paul Holland.

Intense rigour

Both Richard Blackford’s ‘Orbital’  and Oliver Waespi’s ‘West Wind – Metamorphoses for Brass Band’,  were delivered with intense rigour and artistic certainty, their contrasting demands carefully illuminated by the subtle calibrations of the MDs cultured interpretations. 

Although ostensibly literary inspired, they chart very different concepts of human emotion and experience; Blackford’s compact work (introduced by the composer), a series of imaginative reflections on a world appreciated from the wonder and speed of space; Waespi’s of a poetic mind entranced by the earthly tethers of nature and star gazing. Their engaging substance and craftsmanship will surely grow with repeated hearing.

Both Richard Blackford’s ‘Orbital’  and Oliver Waespi’s ‘West Wind – Metamorphoses for Brass Band’,  were delivered with intense rigour and artistic certainty, their contrasting demands carefully illuminated by the subtle calibrations of the MDs cultured interpretations. 

The evening opened with ‘Fanfare for the Best’  by Thomas Doss, a fortuitous happenstance rather than a display of deliberate hubris in it being a 50th birthday present for the composer’s friend Otto M. Schwarz.

Intelligently balanced

It set the tone for an intelligently balanced programme; John Golland’s ‘Meiso’,  with the melodic baritone and horn leads of Elliot Harrington and Emily Evans set against delicate Japanese Shinto Temple reflections, contrasted by the American circus flamboyance of ‘Belford’s Carnival March’,  the luscious textures of John Barry’s ‘Out of Africa’,  and the frenetic fun of the ‘Monopoly’ inspired ‘Pall Mall’. 

What did though was Gavin Higgins’ ‘Ar Lan y Mor’  that lingered with richly textured beauty in the sultry air of the concert hall, although the turbo charged encore of ‘Romani Fire Dance’  ensured that the last drops of sweat were squeezed out too.

In between, principal cornet Luke Barker was the criminally assured lead in ‘Beneath the Mask’,  which alongside the celebratory ‘Cuba Libra’  by Stijn Aertgeerts formed part of the band’s expertly planned 2025 ‘Heist’  Brass in Concert set.

Blueprint phase

New works from Kelly Marie Murphy, with the short concert opener ‘Heliosphere’,  and Lucy Pankhurst’s 1980’s synth-pop euph solo ‘Electric’  were perhaps still at the blueprint phase of project development though.

Neither quite convinced you on first hearing, despite the inventive ideas that drew detailed ensemble clarity and remarkable playing from Dan Thomas.  

What did though was Gavin Higgins’ ‘Ar Lan y Mor’  that lingered with richly textured beauty in the sultry air of the concert hall, although the turbo charged encore of ‘Romani Fire Dance’  ensured that the last drops of sweat were squeezed out too.

Iwan Fox