Brass for Charity

Regent Hall, London,
Friday 1st December
Featuring: Rod Franks, Professor James Watson, David Daws, The Brass Ensemble of the Royal Academy of Music and the combined bands of St Albans City and Welwyn Garden City.
Conductors Stephen Tighe and Stuart G

Both Rod Franks and Stuart Garman have recently undergone neurosurgery, and the evening was arranged to raise much-needed funds for Guys Hospital and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. 

Originally, Rod Franks and James Watson were to have been the two featured soloists, but following James Watson's accident, causing severe damage to the tendons in his right hand, David Daws stepped into the breach.  James Watson was present, however, and did in fact take part, as will be revealed in due course.

St Albans City and Welwyn Garden City performed as a united band throughout the night, numbering some 40 players, with the two horn players being rather out-numbered, and at times overwhelmed, despite their best efforts. 

Peter Graham's lively march "Shining Star" made for a bright opening number, with crisp playing, tight rhythms and smooth euphonium playing.  Its invocation "O come, all ye faithful" was a fitting lead into the first of three Christmas carols giving the audience a chance to sing along with the band. 

As Stephen Tighe reflected, it was probably a little early to fully enter into the Christmas spirit, and this may have accounted for the somewhat lack-lustre singing, although it may not have been helped by the words being printed in the programme, that not everyone had purchased: with even the most familiar carols there can be uncertainty as to the order of the verses.

Things did improve later in the evening, when the audience was invited to rise to sing, although both conductors seemed to have difficulty getting the band to settle on a suitably brisk tempo for the carols.

One of the difficulties with concerts around Christmas time can be finding music that is fresh, and Stephen Tighe's "Noel" fitted the bill perfectly.  Based on the familiar carol "The first Nowell", and inspired by a treatment originally by violinist Peter Martin, Stephen has reworked it into a highly effective piece for band.  With cornet and glockenspiel figures introducing the melody, after the first verse it moved up-tempo into a 4/4 rock style, with effective syncopation, helped by the two percussionists, before returning to the traditional 3/4 to close.

Leroy Anderson's "Christmas Festival" has long been staple fare for wind bands, and James Wood's transcription makes it available for brass bands as well.  Various Christmas carols are featured, some with brief snippets of melody and others in more extended settings, including "Joy to the World", "Deck the Halls", "God rest you merry, gentlemen" - in a rather sombre, reflective mood - "Good King Wenceslas", "Hark the Herald Angels Sing", "Silent night", "Jingle bells" and "O come all ye faithful". 

Despite the lack of rehearsal, the band worked hard to produce a vibrant performance, with the shot chords accompanying "Jingle bells" being spot on, the trombones cutting through the texture where appropriate, and effective runs in the lower half of the band.

Rod Franks was joined by his daughter Becky, a physiotherapist at Luton & Dunstable Hospital, in a duet version of Joy Webb's "Share my yoke", Rod explaining that this had been part of his therapy as he recovered from surgery.  He also confessed that it was not a favourite of Professor Gleeson, his surgeon!  Mostly, they alternated phrases of the melody between Rod's trumpet and Becky's cornet, with the pared down accompaniment being mainly provided by Welwyn Garden City players.

Stuart Garman took over the baton for "Deck the Halls", an early composition by Barrie Gott, originally written for a small ensemble, and later expanded for full band.  The move into the 3/4 section was accomplished quite smoothly, and this item was especially well received by the audience.

Stuart spoke of multiple reasons for celebration: Christ's birth, the gift of music, and the skill of the medical services.  Introducing "I only have eyes for you" (arr Fernie) he explained that he was reminded of his wife, and also of the gift of sight restored by the surgeon's skilled hands. 

The arrangement featured a prominent part for bass trombone, with the vibraphone adding its distinctive sound.  The five basses also held the tempo back nicely, with a uniform approach to the length of notes, although it was unfortunate that during the quiet ending one could hear the sound of players warming up backstage.

David Daws chose to play what is almost his signature tune, the arrangement of "Golden Slippers" made by Norman Bearcroft for Derrick Diffey of the Canadian Staff Band.  Although he has performed it numerous times, each time he seems to have added new refinement, with extra smears, lip trills and fresh nuances.  There were a couple of awkward moments in the accompaniment, which is understandable n such an occasion when rehearsal time is limited. 

David had managed a couple of runs through with St Albans City, and their players took the lead in backing the soloist.  As often happens, the audience were caught out, applause bursting out at the midway point, but it was well-deserved!  If anything it seemed to inspire the soloist to even greater heights, and the final section was taken at a cracking pace, culminating in a ringing top Eb.

Following the second audience carol, the bands tackled Ray Farr's version of "Toccata in D minor", which picked up after a few dodgy moments in the exposed early sections.  It was spoilt a little, though, by the exuberance of the players spilling over into overblowing towards the end.

As stated earlier, James Watson was determined not to be left out, and so it was that the audience were treated to a quartet performance of Phil Catelinet's cornet trio "The Heralds".  With David Daws taking one part, Nicholas Garman another, and the third being shared by Rod Franks and James Watson, there was some banter regarding their respective heights, including the thought that they could have seemed rather like Russian dolls, with James Watson's towering figure one end and the diminutive Nicholas at the other. 

As it was, Nicholas stood on the conductor's box, bringing him up to the same level as the remaining three.  As for the performance, it was good to hear this fine old trio, based on the song "Hallelujah to the Lamb", getting an airing, as each part in turn took centre stage. As the players exchanged handshakes at the end, it was conspicuous that James Watson was using his left hand, and one can but hope that he may make a full recovery in due course.

After the interval, the members of the Brass Ensemble from the Royal Academy of Music took the stage to present Eric Crees's arrangement of music from Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story".  Although it has been reworked for band, it seems to have more bite in its original version for large ensemble, and the students tackled it with all the enthusiasm of youth and with no considerable skill. 

With the ten trumpets arrayed at the back, horns and flugel to the left, trombones in the centre, euphonium and tubas to the right, the audience was warned to be prepared for some loud playing. 

The drum kit was positioned at the centre of it all, special mention being made that Ian playing kit had only recently left hospital himself, whilst the timpani and other tuned percussion were sited to the back right of the stage.

Rod Franks directed, explaining that although he had played it on numerous occasions, it was his conducting debut with the work.  One of the main aims of the London music colleges is to produce players who are able to take various genres of music in their stride, and the players certainly seemed to relish the challenges offered by Bernstein's music, with its rhythmic complexities seeming to prove no obstacle. 

The percussion section added greatly to the atmosphere, from the claves at the opening through to the more sensual, intimate moments, but all sections acquitted themselves well, with some exceptionally fine tuba playing from both players.  The sound was very powerful at times, without becoming strident, whilst the setting of "America" produced some very elegant and delicate playing.  They even managed to make the shouts of "Mambo" sound convincing, and it rounded off an enjoyable evening of fine music, and all in a very good cause.

Peter Bale

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