This compilation of works played at the European Brass Band
Championships 2011 in Montreux cannot fail to impress. There
is music here for all tastes – from works especially composed
for brass forces through to arrangements of well-known favourites
by way of a few novelty pieces. Doyen has wisely left audience
sounds and applause on these tracks and this adds greatly to
the atmosphere of sheer fun and enjoyment that must have been
a huge part of the week’s activities.
There are a number of major brass band works on these discs
that deserve attention. The CD gets off to an impressive start
with the Swiss composer Oliver Waespi’s Audivi Media Nocte
which was one of the set-pieces. It is a complex and invigorating
composition that exploits a volatile mixture of ‘virtuosity
and lyricism, frenetic energy and calm expansiveness’. It’s
a work that will certainly appeal to the brass band cognoscenti.
The twenty-year old Jean-Selim Abdelmoula provides a dramatic
Toccata for Brass Band which once again is perfectly
tailored to the medium. It sounds extremely intricate in design
and makes a fine test-piece.
The first CD ends with Edward Gregson’s large-scale Of Men
and Mountains. Gregson’s website notes that the piece ‘was
commissioned by the Netherlands Brass Band championships for
their tenth anniversary contest in Drachten in December 1990.’
The notes continue by setting the work in context: ‘In July
the previous year ... [Gregson] and his wife took the Trans-Canadian
Railway from Toronto to Vancouver.’ The journey through the
Rocky Mountains was the starting point for Of Men and Mountains.
Gregson writes that: 'its high peaks and shafts of sunlight
breaking through the clouds, its canyons and ferocious rapids
made me understand a little more about the majesty of nature
and the fragility of humanity. The eternal struggle between
man and nature was personified in the building of this incredible
railway hence my title (after Blake).'
This is a major piece of work that has staked its claim to a
place in the brass band repertoire. Complex, diffuse and often
impressionistic it is a worthy challenge to players and listeners
alike.
Old Licks Bluesed Up by Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen is a
long, multi-faceted piece lasting some 18 minutes. The composer
explores a number of Bach-like figurations but brings them very
much up to date: a good balance between the past and present.
The percussion section is very much to the fore with some especially
good passagework for the vibraphone.
Jan Van Der Roost’s From Ancient Times was apparently
inspired by the Franco-Flemish School of the Renaissance – artists
such as Rubens, Van Dijck, Breughel and Van Eyck and musicians
such as Lassus, Willaert, Ockeghem, Obrecht, Isaac, Dufay and
de Monte. However this is not a pastiche of any historical piece:
this is dramatic, vibrant music of the first order. Modern it
is, with a whole array of brass clichés that are both exciting
and technically extremely difficult. This is one of the best
brass band pieces I have heard for a while.
Turning now to the shorter, but equally effective pieces. I
loved Simon Dobson’s The Dreaded Groove and Hook. This
cool, groovy, up-tempo, acid jazz piece is just what the doctor
ordered. It is music that one wishes would go on for ever. Let
us hope that we hear much more from this composer. Stephen Hodel’s
Vortex is the most ‘modern’ or ‘avant-garde’ sounding
piece presented these CDs, yet even here there are some beautiful
and quite moving moments of a more traditional nature. If anything,
there is a wee bit of an imbalance between the stylistic parameters
of this work.
I enjoyed Peter Graham’s Brillante with its nods to British
patriotic songs making it a kind of updated brass versions of
the ‘sea-songs’. Good euphonium solos here too.
There are a number of arrangements of music which are always
interesting from point of view of hearing brass instrumentation
applied to works derived from a range of genres. These include
Howard Snell’s take on an old Swiss melody ‘The Old Chalet’,
a rumbustious version of Karl Jenkins; popular Stabat Mater
and a fantasy of Welsh songs written by Gordon Langford and
Gareth Woods. This piece certainly swings along with a new twist
to some old favourites tunes.
I was not so convinced by the Duo Synthesis who played an arrangement
called Gankino Horo and Benediction by John Stevens.
This appears to be a marimba/euphonium combo. Although the music
sounds good, to my mind this is a long way off being a brass
band! Other good arrangements include Cole Porter’s ‘Be a Clown’,
a medieval sounding piece called Agincourt Song by John
Dunstable, and aptly arranged by Elgar Howarth, The Lonely Maid
arranged by Thomas Rüedi, the nimble Pas Redouble by
Saint-Saëns as arranged by a certain Bach – I think Michael
and not J.S. or J.C. ‘Es Burebuebli’ Goes Strange is
a fun piece of the traditional ‘oompah’ type of tune arranged
by ‘James’: it would make a great encore at any brass band concert.
Finally the double-CD concludes with a good pot-boiler: ‘Hawkins’
arrangement of the ‘Finale’ to William Tell. Certainly
a piece to bring the house down.
In spite of the excellent music and fine recordings, this CD
gives the listener and the reviewer a number of problems. Firstly
there is a lack of dates – for composers and for their music.
Both are essential for a good understanding of the music. I
do not believe that it should be necessary to spend much time
looking for details on the Internet which should be part of
the liner-notes or track-listing. Who, for instance are the
arrangers ‘Hawkins’ or ‘James’? It would be good to know. Secondly,
the designers of the CD package should take note of the fact
that the track-listing is in such a tiny font (black on grey/pink)
that it is hard for anyone with any kind of sight impairment
to read. Over and above this Doyen have overprinted photographs
with text. My eyes are not that bad, but I needed a magnifying
glass. Finally, after listening to this CD on my ‘hi-fi’ I wanted
to import it onto my iPod for further study. However, the details
seemed to come up in Japanese! So end of that idea.
All this is a pity, for this is a great compilation of tunes
that were given at The Auditorium Stravinski, Montreux. I will
not suggest that I enjoyed every single track but on the whole
it is an impressive series of performances that explore a huge
variety of music. It will be essential listening for all brass
band enthusiasts.
John France
CD 1 of 2
Oliver WAESPI (b.1971) Audivi
Media Nocte
Manger Musikklag [18.50]
Jean-Sélim ABDELMOULA (b.1991)
Toccata for Brass Band
European Youth Brass Band [5.45]
‘The Old Chalet’ - traditional arr. Howard
SNELL
European Youth Brass Band [5.06]
Simon DOBSON (b.1981) The
Dreaded Groove and Hook
European Youth Brass Band [3.47]
Gareth WOOD (b.1950) and
Gordon LANGFORD (b.1930)
Welsh Fantasy
Cory Band [5.33]
Karl JENKINS (b.1944) arr.
Andrew WAINWRIGHT (b.1981)
and Robert CHILDS (b.1957)
Stabat Mater
Cory Band [13.09]
Stephen HODEL Vortex
Ensemble de Cuivres Euphonia [7.07]
Edward GREGSON (b.1945) Of
Men and Mountains
Ensemble de Cuivres Euphonia [16.38]
CD 2 of 2
Torstein AAGAARD-NILSEN (b.1964)
Old Licks Bluesed Up
Manger Musikklag [18.35]
John STEVENS Benediction
Duo Synthesis [4.10]
‘Gankino Horo’ - traditional arr. HOLM
Duo Synthesis [2.28]
‘Es Burebüebli’ Goes Strange –traditional arr. JAMES
Heinz Saurer (Trumpet) with Swiss Brass Consort [3.05]
Cole PORTER (1891-1964) arr.
Alan FERNIE ‘Be a Clown’
Swiss Brass Consort [1.31]
Peter GRAHAM (b.1958) Brillante
David Childs and David Thornton (Euphoniums) with Cory Band
[5.15]
John DUNSTABLE (1390-1453)
arr. Elgar HOWARTH (b.1935)
Agincourt Song
Brassband Bürgermusik Luzern [2.08]
‘The Lonely Maid’ - traditional arr. Thomas
RÜEDI (b.1969)
Brassband Bürgermusik Luzern [5.57]
Camille SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921)
arr. Michael BACH Pas
Redoublé
Brassband Bürgermusik Luzern [3.48]
Jan Van Der ROOST (b.1956)
From Ancient Times
Cory Band [18.12]
Gioachino ROSSINI (1792-1868)
arr. HAWKINS ‘Finale’
to William Tell
Cory Band [2.50]
rec. The Auditorium Stravinski, Montreux, Switzerland, 23 April–1
May 2011 
