National Youth Wind Orchestra

Conductor: James Gourlay
Soloist: David Childs
Dukes Hall
Royal Academy of Music
London
Sunday 15th August

With the venue having changed from the much larger Cadogan Hall, late arrivals experienced some difficulty finding seats in the elegant Duke’s Hall.

James Gourlay proved a very affable compère and conductor, explaining that he was pleased to be at the Royal Academy where he auditioned for a placed as a 16-year-old, only to be told he would never make it as a musician!

Hands across the sea

The programme consisted largely of film music, and got off to a rousing start with Eric Coates ‘The Dam Busters’. Piccolo and glockenspiel added a touch of brightness to the sound, and there was some nicely subdued playing from the six horns.

Leroy Anderson’s ‘Belle of the Ball’ revealed a wide range of tone colours, with effective chalumeau clarinets and a sumptuous tenor melody featuring bassoons, saxophones and horns, the music having a light, lilting feel.

Accomplished flautist

Kieran Hughes was the flute soloist in the ‘Theme from Schindler’s List’ whose long phrases almost made one forget that a flautist needs to breathe! The pared-down accompaniment ensured that the soloist was never over-powered.

Stunning playing

Karl Jenkins’ ‘Euphonium Concerto’, commissioned by David Childs, has so caught the imagination that it was receiving its 20th and 21st performances.

Proud father Bob commented beforehand that the church in Banbury the previous evening had not helped the clarity of the music, but there were no problems this time.

Originally written with an orchestral accompaniment, the textures of the wind orchestra did not swamp the soloist in any way, and it was an excellent showcase for David’s phenomenal technique and fine lyrical playing.

’The Juggler’ displayed considerable athleticism, ‘Romanza’ brought beautifully sustained lines, ‘It takes two . . .’  featured attractive arabesques from both soloist and band, as well as calling on David to produce some multiphonics and lip-trills, whilst the finale, ‘A Troika? Tidy’, developed into a real tour de force.

The vigorous stamping of feet from the players at the end indicated that they had appreciated the performance as much as the audience.

Colourful Gershwin

The first half ended with George Gershwin’s ‘American in Paris’, the arrangement retaining many of the voicings of the original, with a suitably sleazy contribution from Matt Letts on trumpet and features for bass clarinet, cor anglais, Eb flat clarinet, alto sax and tuba, although the taxi horns seemed somewhat lacking in conviction – not as impatient as London cabbies, never mind Parisian ones!

Bravura brass

The second half opened with an extended suite from ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’.

For the first time the brass were really given their head, with powerful playing from trumpets and trombones and a strong unison horn melody. Driving rhythms and sweeping melodies were melded with numerous oriental touches to depict the Shanghai setting of the film.

It was brass to the fore again with the ‘Main theme from Star Wars’, the horns playing with their bells in the air, and some fine piccolo playing adding to the ethereal atmosphere.

The brass were brought to their feet for a special round of applause, with James Gourlay remarking that Darth Vader should have taken up the tuba to cure his asthma!

Encore

David Childs contributed two lollipops to the second half, with James Gourlay’s arrangement of ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’ preceding ‘Hot Canary’, transcribed for wind orchestra by Rodney Newton.

The addition of the xylophone gave a nice period feel, and the rendition was enlivened by the appearance of percussionist William Minty in a costume put together during the week’s course.

Stirring Walton score

The final programmed item was a five-movement suite of William Walton’s music for ‘Henry V’.

With a narrator quoting William Shakespeare’s stirring words, it commenced with the scene-setting ‘Overture – the Globe Playhouse’, multiple piccolos adding their shrillness and with a sustained drum roll underpinning the narration.

The moving ‘Passacaglia – The Death of Falstaff’ concentrated mainly on the lower woodwind and horns, followed by the exhilarating ‘Charge and Battle’. Another gentle interlude, ‘Touch her soft lips and part’, featured flutes and clarinets, before a final joyous celebration with ‘Agincourt Song’.

Of particular interest were fanfares written by three of the students for the performance, percussionist Reuben Penny, clarinettist Tristan Watson and trombonist Owen Hubbard.

More John Williams music provided the encore, as the afternoon ended with en exuberant rendition of ‘Superman’, with solos for bassoon, tuba, xylophone and euphonium.

The young players had risen to the occasion and provided much enjoyment, although it was annoying once again to find no reference in the otherwise well-produced programme to the talented arrangers who had added so much to the afternoon’s success, and notes referring to orchestral versions of the works.

Peter Bale

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