John RUTTER (b. 1945)
Anthems, Hymns and Gloria for Brass Band
Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus
Black Dyke Band/Nicholas Childs and Darius Battiwala
rec. 2019, Morley Town Hall and St Oswald’s Church, Sheffield, UK
Arrangements by Luc Vertommen
NAXOS 8.574130 [62:22]
Two musical pillars of Christmas in the UK are John Rutter and Salvation Army silver bands. While, with one exception, there are neither John Rutter carols here nor a Salvation Army silver band, we do have a disc devoted to the music of Rutter most of which is performed by one of Britain’s most famous (and finest) bands in arrangements by Luc Vertommen. And, as such, it seems to ooze Christmas, even there is only one item – What Sweeter Music – which has a direct Christmas connection.
The Black Dyke Band under their conductor, Nicholas Childs, plays everything with supreme polish and sensitivity, and exudes a silky smooth warmth and affection. Of particular beauty is their take on The Lord Bless You and Keep You, which has such a velvety softness that it seems almost to breathe with a human voice. Also exuding a truly almost vocal style of delivery is the delightfully creamy cornet of Richard Marshall, in the Pie Jesu. I am not so sure otherwise about this arrangement, with a tinkling glockenspiel adding a slight whiff of the fairground. Indeed, on the whole, Luc Vertommen’s arrangements have a slightly over-orchestrated feel, with his version of All Things Bright and Beautiful really far too fussy and action-packed to match the simple beauty of Rutter’s original. I suspect that without a band of such superlative control to play them, these arrangements would not work anything like as effectively as they do. However, they do work magnificently in this context, and while they hardly stretch the band and have, inevitably, a certain samey quality, the luxury of the playing ensures that the novelty of Rutter on brass never wears too thin. The one exception is Distant Land (A Prayer for Freedom) which takes on a decidedly Copland-esque feel in this instrumental-only arrangement.
Scored for choir, organ, brass and percussion, the Gloria of 1974 is so strongly redolent of Walton that it is sometimes difficult to spot anything distinctive in the music, especially given this performance in which Darius Battiwala is so keen to convey the mood of celebration and festivity that the moments of repose are largely swept away by the sheer exuberance of the music-making. One senses that the church in which this recording was made was possibly a little too small to accommodate such musical enthusiasm, and certainly the men of the Sheffield Philharmonic Choir seem to have pretty much tired themselves out by the time we reach the final Amen. But what the choral singing lacks in polish, is more than amply compensated for by the sheer joie-de-vivre of the performance and the sparkling majesty of the Black Dyke Band.
Marc Rochester
Contents
Two Hymns of Praise [8:28]
A Clare Benediction [2:58]
What Sweeter Music [4:22]
Requiem: Pie Jesu [3:21]
As the Bridegroom to His Chosen [2:58]
Go Forth into the World in Peace [2:30]
Distant Land (A Prayer) [4:48]
The Lord Bless You and Keep You [2:50]
All Things Bright and Beautiful [2:49]
For the Beauty of the Earth [3:44]
This is the Day [4:38]
Gloria [18:10]
