Even before the newly crowned Championship Band of Great Britain can clean the old silver pot they will carry away from the Royal Albert Hall, bands’ thoughts will have already started to focus on returning to Cheltenham or London in 2024.
To do so they will have to master demanding works chosen by the Kapitol Music Panel – although as always, this annual CD release does not offer the blueprint to do just that.
Litmus test
In recent years they have balanced testing technique and engaging musicality with litmus test consideration – and there is certainly an acidity to the challenges posed by both on Philip Sparke’s ‘Variations on an Enigma’.
Last used a generation ago (Areas 2000), the enigma itself may no longer hold mystery, yet it remains a fearsome puzzle to work out.
Almost 40 years since it was written, it succumbs only to true elite level command, as shown by the virtuosic Howard Snell inspired rendition by Eikanger from 1993 (it was one of their favs at the time).
Almost 40 years since it was written, it succumbs only to true elite level command, as shown by the virtuosic Howard Snell inspired rendition by Eikanger from 1993 (it was one of their favs at the time).
Understanding
Eric Ball’s underrated ‘High Peak’ also requires considerable musical understanding – especially from those First Section conductors and players not imbued by the generational appreciation of the composer’s music.
Written in 1969 it is a musical metaphor of spiritual attainment rather than a laborious clamber to be first to plant a flag on top of a qualification summit.
Written in 1969 it is a musical metaphor of spiritual attainment rather than a laborious clamber to be first to plant a flag on top of a qualification summit.
Philip Sparke’s ‘Triptych’ was used at Third Section Area level in 1991, but the passing of time (and relative sectional standards) also means that it will have lost none of its bite for Second Section contenders.
Leyland Band under the late Richard Evans showcase its challenges (recorded in 1998) with a deceptive ease. It is not to be underestimated though.
Engaging choices
Neither are the engaging choices for the Third and Fourth Sections – both written by composers fully appreciative of the collective challenges faced at these levels, and played with consideration as such by GUS Band under Christopher Bond.
His ‘Corineus’ may have been originally written as a youth band work, but the mature insight never acquiesces in its assured, dramatic demands.
So too Alan Fernie’s delightful ‘Music for Jock Tamson’ – inspired in part by the Scottish newspaper cartoon character ‘Oor Wullie’, although the central gem of ‘Inchkeith’ and the finale ‘Wha’s Like Us’ make up character studies drawn by the expert hand of a composer commanding of any stylistic genre.
Iwan Fox
Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEHPtnF8XNQ&t=23s
To purchase:
CD
https://www.worldofbrass.com/102080
Download:
https://www.worldofbrass.com/102080-download
Play list:
1. Variations on an Enigma (Philip Sparke)
Eikanger Bjorsvik Musikklag
Conductor: Howard Snell
2. High Peak (Eric Ball)
Cory Band
Conductor: Philip Harper
3. Triptych (Philip Sparke)
JJB Sports Leyland Band
Conductor: Richard Evans
4. Corineus (Christopher Bond)
GUS Band
Conductor: Christopher Bond
5. Music for Jock Tamson (Alan Fernie)
GUS Band
Conductor: Christopher Bond
