Four ground breaking brass band works are to be revived at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama at the end of the month in a free concert led by Chris Houlding.

Reception

The concert on the 25th will see the Brass Band of the Guildhall School of Music perform works entitled, ‘Ahead of their Time’ – inspired by the reception and rejection they initially received when first performed.

Chris told 4BR: "It’s a rare opportunity for band aficionados to hear four major works that were not universally welcomed when first heard – even though they have later gone on to be regarded as gems of the brass band repertoire."

Unsatisfied

The first of these will be Eric Ball’s concert overture, ‘The Undaunted’, written for the 1959 British Open, and inspired by a poem by Louis Utermeyer, with its words, "And when at last the fight is won, God, keep me still unsatisfied" – which rather mirrored the response it gained from players and critics alike.

And when at last the fight is won, God, keep me still unsatisfied – which rather mirrored the response it gained from players and critics alike4BR

Lost

This will be followed by Elgar Howarth's arrangement of Toro Takemitsu's ‘Garden Rain’, originally dedicated to the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, but last heard in this version on the famous Grimethorpe Aria disc of 1974, and thought by the composer to be lost after he tried to find his original manuscript a few years ago.

Rubbish

Howarth’s own 1975 British Open composition ‘Fireworks’, which elicited cries of ‘Rubbish!’ from some disgruntled contest goers aimed directly at Howarth as he made his way through the audience at the conclusion of the contest at the King’s Hall at Belle Vue, will be followed by the now iconic ‘Contest Music’.

Inappropriate

Amazingly, Heaton’s masterpiece was thought to be inappropriate to be used as the set work for the 1973 National Championships of Great Britain at the Royal Albert Hall – replaced by Hubert Bath’s ‘Freedom’.

Although it was performed at the venue in 1978, by Solna Brass of Sweden at the European Brass Band Championships, it was not performed by UK bands at the National Championships until 1982.