Highlights from the European Brass Band Championships:
2011
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
DOYEN DOYCD285 [75:39 + 68:06]
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
I did not enjoy every single track but on the whole it is an impressive series
of performances that explore a huge variety of music. Essential listening
for all brass band enthusiasts.