Colin Touchin has been director of music
at Warwick University since 1988 and there is no greater evidence of
his influence than the University Wind Orchestra, a huge band of up
to one hundred players. Add to this the fact that the number of ensembles
at the university has grown from six to twenty one during his tenure
and one can start to appreciate the extent of his achievement.
In a tribute to William Walton in his
centenary year, the programme opened with Crown Imperial. A slightly
nervous start from the band with a little more of a pre-concert "warm
up" needed in the woodwind perhaps, but any early nerves soon seemed
to be dispelled and the performance made up for its initial uncertainty
with some well graded dynamics and playing of good spirit towards the
conclusion. By the time we got to Popular Song from Facade
which followed, it was clear that the band were enjoying themselves
immensely, as were the audience. Martin Ellerby has written extensively
for both brass and symphonic wind bands, his pieces always demonstrating
a flair for melody, yet combining this with often-considerable technical
demands on the players. His Venetian Spells is cast in four short
movements, each of which pays tribute to Vivaldi, Stravinsky (who was
buried on the island cemetery of San Michele), Monteverdi and Giovanni
Gabrieli respectively. It is a stylish and highly enjoyable work and
although the technical demands were not always completely overcome by
the band, enthusiasm was in ample evidence throughout. American composer
Derek Bermel’s Ides March was receiving its European premiere
at the concert, the piece being the result of a challenge to write a
march suitable for both a funeral and a wedding. The result, perhaps
not surprisingly, is a little curious although it does manage to combine
a certain sense of celebration with some darker and perhaps not entirely
serious undertones. Hot off the publisher’s press, the first half concluded
with an arrangement by Robert W. Smith of a selection from John Williams’s
score for the movie Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Anyone
who has seen the film will know that it is a magical score and all of
the big tunes were here from Harry’s theme, to the arrival at Hogwart’s,
to the music representing Harry’s broomstick, the memorably named Nimbus
2000. Great fun and guaranteed to get everyone whistling away in the
interval!
To open the second half it was the turn
of the University Brass Band to take the stage, kicking off with a lively
and appropriate opener in Goff Richards’s arrangement of the Gershwin
overture to Strike Up the Band. Alan Fernie’s arrangement of
Someone to Watch Over Me, which followed, showed off the mellower
side of the band with some beautifully sonorous sounds marred only by
a few minor intonation troubles. The weekend after this concert the
band were to be competing in the Midlands Area Brass Band Championships
and this was a good opportunity to give the test piece a pre-contest
trial run. The Russian composer Victor Ewald’s Symphony for Brass
Op. 5, here arranged for band by Michael E. Hopkinson, is heavily
influenced by Tchaikovsky but nonetheless enjoyable for it in its blend
of good thematic material and skilful scoring. The band may well have
felt that there were still a few loose ends to tie up prior to the contest
but overall there was much to commend in the playing.
It fell to the wind orchestra to conclude
the concert, this time under the direction of Ben Wong. By now the band
were on top form and playing with much improved confidence. Like the
Ellerby work in the first half, James Rae’s The Turn of the Wheel,
a tribute to the early pioneers of the steam engine, proved to be a
melodically enjoyable piece, easy on the ear if not always on the players.
This was possibly the best playing of the night from the wind band however
and the strong influence of Malcolm Arnold in several of the major tunes
came through very clearly. With so much quality original music around
for wind band these days I felt a little disappointment that the closing
item was the finale from Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, even in
an arrangement as good as this one by W. J. Duthoit. The slightly sedate
tempo adopted reinforced my opinion on this point but the band certainly
achieved a rousing conclusion, changing to riotous good humour for the
final item, Harold Walters Hootenanny, in which the wind and
brass bands joined forces.
I would estimate that there were no
more than around 125 people in the hall for this concert, a great shame,
for not only do these young musicians deserve our support, they also
put considerable effort into giving us an entertaining programme of
impressive variety. Fortunately the small audience did not deter the
players in their enthusiasm for the music.
Christopher Thomas
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