East London Brass will be unearthing a lost treasure of John Ireland repertoire this weekend in a celebration concert of the life and work of the composer who died 50 years ago this month.

Centrepiece

Entitled, ‘John Ireland and his Pupils’ it takes place at St Luke’s Church in Chelsea on Sunday, supported by the John Ireland Trust.

The centrepiece will be the first performance in over 60 years of the previously thought lost, ‘Man in his Labour Rejoiceth’, written in 1948 for a huge Miners Festival which was held at Haringey Stadium in London – and played to over 10,000 people.

Huge ensemble

Originally scored for eight brass bands, three pipe bands and nine male voice choirs, the short four minute work was conducted by Sir Adrian Boult.

However, following the performance, it was understandably rarely used again, and with the hired band parts apparently returned to the publishers, it was seemingly lost forever.

Skills and work

Thankfully, through the work of the John Ireland Trust, East London Brass and the compositional skills of composer Andrew Duncan, the work will be heard again – although performed by a slightly smaller cast of musicians.

East London Brass under the direction of Jayne Murrill will be joined by the 60 strong Addison Singers to perform the work for the first time in over half a century. The band will also perform other Ireland compositions such as ‘Comedy’, ‘Downland Suite’, the music for the film score ‘The Overlanders’ and his ‘Epic March’.

Rarely heard

In addition there will also be rarely heard renditions of Helen Perkins ‘Carnival’, Benjamin Brittan’s ‘Russian Funeral Music’ and a work by Ireland’s great associate and pupil Alan Bush, of ‘Pavanne for a Castleton Queen’.

Revealing

MD Jayne Murrill is certainly looking forward to what promises to be a revealing concert:

"The band has been working hard in preparing for this exciting event. ‘Man in his Labour Rejoiceth’ is a unique gem. Andrew Duncan has done a magnificent job in restoring it to its former glory from just basic piano parts."

The band has been working hard in preparing for this exciting event. ‘Man in his Labour Rejoiceth’ is a unique gem. Andrew Duncan has done a magnificent job in restoring it to its former glory from just basic piano partsJayne Murrill

Challenge

Jayne added: "Although some may consider the Ireland’s works to be technically simpler than most modern repertoire, I found that every note in the score has real importance which needs shape and musical thought. It’s been challenging for us all, but we have gained so much from it."

Different

She added: "We also have a very good relationship with Phil Littlemore who has arranged for us Ireland's suite of music from the film ‘The Overlanders’ that demonstrates a very different and surprising style of scoring.

Along with Phil's other arrangement of ‘Epic March’, which was originally written for a massed band performance by Sun Life and Black Dyke it adds to the programme which certainly shows Ireland’s compositional genius and its influence on his pupils."

Further information

4BR has been looking into the history of ‘Man in his Labour Rejoiceth’ in a forthcoming article.

For further information go to: http://www.east-london-brass.co.uk/

Link to publicity/ticket info webpage: http://www.cadoganhall.com/event/the-addison-singers-and-east-london-brass-band/