If Wales is to carry on its recent record of remarkable contesting success, then bands from all corners of the Principality will have had their prospects boosted by the current teenage generation of players making their mark on this year’s National Youth Band course.
Ease
An intoxicating mix of musical genres certainly brought the best out of them under the impressive direction of Reid Gilje - the linguistic challenges of the Norwegian/Welsh combination overcome with the same ease they showed in mastering the eclectic repertoire.
With the band now coming under the artistic umbrella of Ty Cerdd (joining the stable of other national youth music organisations), the opportunity has been taken to explore more diverse musical genres without losing touch with traditional core brass band works.
Impressive
That was certainly shown in full with this impressive concert performance; delivered with bold endeavour and nerveless execution by a noticeably youthful set of players.
Frode Rydland’s ‘Red Morning Star & Bucimis’ set the early marker - played with detail and balance, with the sultry pulse of Piazzola’s ‘Chiquilin de Bachin’ providing the tasty tango segue between the first half main course dishes of 20 year old Ryan Howell’s neatly constructed ‘A Welsh Fantasy’ and George Lloyd’s imposing ‘English Heritage’.
Howell’s work (the winning entry for the 2014 Ty Cerdd Young Composers Competition), was presented with understanding and lyrical intent, to reveal a compositional voice of originality, whilst Lloyd’s engaging test piece was enhanced by some remarkable solo contributions - notably principal cornet Pippa Scourse, and the MDs intelligent appreciation of dynamic and tempi contrast.
Revelled
After the break, the band revelled in the opportunity to showcase their understanding (and obvious enjoyment) of those new genres - from the popular ‘Birdland’ and Quincy Jones’ ‘Chump Change’ to ‘All of Me’ by Simon & Marks, and the all singing and dancing ‘Hello Dolly’.
Once again, the MDs trust in his players to perform with freedom was marked - the occasional Nordic grin of appreciation returned with proud smiles on eager faces.
Inventive
It was Huw Warren’s wittily inventive ‘On the Other Hand’ that certainly brought the best out of the players and the sparkling soloists - the counterpoint playing between the duo and the ensemble growing in certainty, complexity and downright brilliant joie de vivre as it developed in scope and range.
It is a work that demands to be heard again; a wonderful example of a composer knowing the scope as well as the limitations of the accompanying brass band palette, and the seemingly inexhaustible inventiveness of his soloist’s intentions.
Three encores
‘A Child is Born’ saw the impressive duo return for a tasteful ‘encore’- one which led into a cracking foot tapping finish from the band and the welcome addition of no less than three encores; Ennio Morricone’s bucolic ‘Jill’s Theme’ from the film ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’, the rollicking ‘Blackbird Special’ (choreographed with razor sharp precision) and the classy arrangement by the MD of ‘Farvel til en slavisk kvinne’ by Vasiliev Agapkin.
Bridges
At the end of a highly enjoyable concert Reid Gilje wore a smile as wide as the Menai Suspension Bridge that links mainland Wales to the island of Anglesey.
On this evidence you were left wishing someone could start building one that stretches from Beaumaris to Bergen.
Matthew Shaw
