Conductor: Katrina Marzella-Wheeler
Narrator: Elizabeth McNally
St Magnus Festival
Orkney Auction Mart, Kirkwall
Saturday 27th June
The 50th St Magnus Festival was brought to a triumphant conclusion in the rather incongruous setting of the Orkney Auction Mart.
Although normally used for the sale of livestock, the venue’s acoustic was however very good. In the festival opener the flute soloist was heard with crystal clarity, and in this final concert the building was able to accommodate the full might of a brass band without allowing the sound to overwhelm the audience.
Rapport
Katrina Marzella-Wheeler established an intimate rapport from the very start – an obvious reciprocal delight for a programme that offered an interpretation of the festival’s theme, ‘air’.
It opened with the world premiere of ‘Skara Brae’ (Andrew Duncan), a short, dramatic work depicting the storm of 1850 which uncovered the neolithic village on Mainland’s west coast. A whistling wind machine provided an appropriate sound effect.
It opened with the world premiere of ‘Skara Brae’ (Andrew Duncan), a short, dramatic work depicting the storm of 1850 which uncovered the neolithic village on Mainland’s west coast.
At the heart of the first half was ‘Mirage’ (Jan de Haan); an attractive work (to be used at the set-test at the forthcoming World Music Contest) inspired by the legend of 'The Flying Dutchman', a ghostly ship with a cursed captain, forever condemned to sail the seas.
It was a fine reading, full of diverse sounds, in which the expected Wagnerian quotation never materialised.
Celebratory fusion
Errollyn Wallen’s ‘Gold Saturday’ took us to the interval. The Master of the King’s Music lives in Orkney and was present to enjoy a celebratory fusion of British brass band and Indian bhangra band culture in a performance that positively fizzed with energy.
The bhangra band featured a local musician, Russ Murray, on soprano saxophone.
The Master of the King’s Music lives in Orkney and was present to enjoy a celebratory fusion of British brass band and Indian bhangra band culture in a performance that positively fizzed with energy.
In between came two shorter numbers. The drunken bass trombonist in the reel from ‘Four Scottish Dances’ (Malcolm Arnold) had the audience tittering, whilst a moment of repose was provided by a sensitive reading of the traditional Scottish melody ‘Now Westlin’ Winds’ arranged by Brendan Wheeler.
La Premiere
The second half was taken up with ‘La Premiere’, the brilliant suite which wowed the audience at the Brass in Concert Championship last year. Here, Elizabeth McNally (see above), as Coco Chanel, was able to extract some extra humour from her script when inviting us to believe that our unlikely surroundings were actually the elegant Theatre des Champs-Elysee in Paris. At its conclusion, the reception was ecstatic.
This wonderful programme could only have been bettered had it perhaps included something by Orkney’s other Master of the Monarch’s Music, the late co-founder of the festival, Peter Maxwell Davies. Max spent most of his working life in Orkney. He is remembered with great affection by Orcadians who, I am certain, would have responded warmly to the performance of one of his pieces.
If bands want the respect of the musical mainstream, these are the sort of audiences they should be playing to, and the sort of innovative programmes they should be playing.
Should be
There is no brass band culture in Orkney. People came to this concert, not to listen to the band, but to listen to the music. There was none of the tribal behaviour by boisterous aficionados that too often demeans other performances.
If bands want the respect of the musical mainstream, these are the sort of audiences they should be playing to, and the sort of innovative programmes they should be playing.
Next up for the cooperation band is the World Music Contest. As Max didn’t quite say, farewell to Kirkwall, hello Kerkrade.
Alec Gallagher
(the copyright image of Elizabeth McNally comes from the band's performance at the 2025 Brass in Concert Championships)
