Tredegar Town Band
Conductors: Ian Porthouse, Martyn Brabbins
Doyen Recordings: DOY CD435
With Tredegar having celebrated the 150th birthday of Vaughan Williams just two years ago, their focus now embraces that of his contemporary, Gustav Holst.
The pair certainly enjoyed, and were inspired by each other’s company and music, although the more intriguing question surrounds the creative direction that Holst’s ever searching mind might have taken had he lived the more robust life of his friend (Holst died in 1934 aged 59, Vaughan Williams passing aged 85 in 1958).
Sadly, we shall never know, but one of the fascinating elements of this recording is the inclusion of music by his daughter Imogen (1907-84). Her multiplicity of talents, for long hidden in the shadow of her father, were only to be recognised fully long after his death.
Advocates
Both were enthusiastic brass band advocates; Gustav giving his early blessing to arrangements of his two ‘Suites’ in Eb and F for wind band. Those of Sidney Herbert have remained firmly in the repertoire, but now Phillip Littlemore has breathed new life into them.
The results are absorbing – tonally brighter in restoration to their original keys, the revived subtlety of colour and texture, allied with the re-introduction of cut bars bringing a new sense of vitality.
The results are absorbing – the brace tonally brighter in restoration to their original keys, the revived subtlety of colour and texture, allied with the re-introduction of cut bars bringing a new sense of vitality.
‘A Fugal Overture’ is less well known outside orchestral circles, but Alastair Wheeler’s new transcription of a brief but exhilarating work is captured in a performance that brims with energised detail and rhythmic vivacity.
Ingenuity
The ballet music from ‘The Perfect Fool’ already exists in an arrangement by Peter Parkes. Phillip Littlemore once again though draws new depth to the detail with the ingenuity of his scoring. Equally telling is the feeling of faithfulness to the original instilled by the performance.
Imogen Holst’s ‘The Unfortunate Traveller’ has a fascinating back story - one that saw her forced by academic circumstance to ‘arrange’ it for string orchestra as she could not submit an examination piece for brass band.
Now, thanks to a refined restoration by Paul Hindmarsh it fully reveals her quirkily distilled responses to her love of English folk and dance music.
Now, thanks to a refined restoration by Paul Hindmarsh it fully reveals her quirkily distilled responses to her love of English folk and dance music.
‘The Glory of the West’ displays unorthodoxy too - written by Imogen in response to a commission from Redbridge Youth Brass Band in 1969. It must have sounded oddly unfashionable at the time, yet its light scoring retains a playful sense of timeless wit.
Of which, in ‘Mr Shilkret’s Maggot’, Paul Hindmarsh unearths a whimsical gem. Originally written for American Nathaniel Shilkret’s jazz radio orchestra, it wears its English dryness as a badge of honour, played with waspish panache.
Eloquent
Martyn Brabbins’ eloquent exploration of ‘A Moorside Suite’ crowns an outstanding release with interpretive insight that draws playing that exudes rich, warmly hued character.
Martyn Brabbins’ eloquent exploration of ‘A Moorside Suite’ crowns an outstanding release with interpretive insight that draws playing that exudes rich, warmly hued character.
The lightness of the ‘Scherzo’ is a sophisticated delight, joyful in its uninhibited flow. It contrasts the poignant sense of era in the central ‘Nocturne’ evoking in its descending thirds and sixths a bucolic land that the composer knew was fast disappearing around him.
The ‘March’, with its military precision, has a sense of expectancy - vigorous yet agile, that brings to a close a finely executed and thoughtfully conceived tribute (made in association with the Holst Society) to both father and daughter.
Christopher Thomas
To purchase:
CD: https://www.worldofbrass.com/102175
Download: https://www.worldofbrass.com/102175-download
Wobplay: http://www.wobplay.com
Play list:
1. First Suite in Eb (Op.28 No. 1) (Gustav Holst arr. Philip Littlemore)
i. Chaconne
ii. Intermezzo
iii. March
4. Second Suite in F (Op.28 No. 2 (Gustav Holst arr. Philip Littlemore)
i. March
ii. Song without worlds: “I’ll love my love”
iii. Song of the Blacksmith
iv. Fantasia on the “Dargason”
8. A Fugal Overture (Op.40 No. 1) (Gustav Holst arr. Alastair Wheeler)
9. Ballet Music from The Perfect Fool (Gustav Holst arr. Philip Littlemore)
10. The Unfortunate Traveller (Imogen Holst edit. Paul Hindmarsh)
i. Introduction
ii. Scherzo
iii. Interlude
iv. March
14. The Glory of the West (Imogen Holst)
15. Mr Shilktet’s Maggot (Gustav Holst arr. Paul Hindmarsh)
16. A Moorside Suite (Gustav Holst)
i. Scherzo
ii. Nocturne
iii. March
