David Childs
Black Dyke Band
Conductor: Prof Nicholas Childs 
Naxos Recordings: 8.574683

If Willy Wonka made euphonium solo lollipops, then these 15 remarkably performed gobstoppers by David Childs would provide a taste of everlasting musical excellence.

The essence of true virtuosity permeates every element; the seemingly mundane source ingredients lifted to levels of artistic integrity by a performer blessed with the gift of exceptional creative alchemy.

Personal strands

Personal strands of respect are threaded throughout the music, with many of the works linked to the groundbreaking performances and recordings made by his father and uncle, as well as composers such as Karl Jenkins, Philip Wilby and Peter Graham who have worked closely with them all. 

Personal strands of respect are threaded throughout the music, with many of the works linked to the groundbreaking performances and recordings made by his father and uncle

‘Elfriede’, ‘Song of the Seashore’  and ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’  were first recorded on an early Childs Brothers release, ‘Rondo alla turca’  premiered by his father during his tenure as solo euphonium with Black Dyke Band, ‘A Little Prayer’  arranged by him as a birthday present.  Each is hallmarked by a definitive signature of appreciation.   

Sharpest cut

It makes for a perfectly styled homage; the sharpest cut of technique allied to wonderfully tempered melodic lyricism. Nothing is over stretched or over emphasized, blunt witted or artificial. You are hearing playing of the rarest quality, the familiar rejuvenated in immediacy and substance.   

You are hearing playing of the rarest quality, the familiar rejuvenated in immediacy and substance.   

The sheer swagger of the opening ‘Zigeunerweisen’  sets the gold ticket standard, the touching sentimentality of ‘Danny Boy’  balancing things immediately.  Thereafter the treats satisfy the sweetest tooth appetite; the bluff boastfulness of Rossini’s famous ‘Largo al factotum’, the beauty of Mozart’s ‘Adagio in F’,  evocative sentimentality of ‘Macushla’  and fragile simplicity of ‘Hamabe no Uta’.  

Masterful sum

Others such as the showcase air-varie solos ‘Home on the Range’,  ‘Facilita’,  ‘Endearing Young Charms’  and ‘Carnival of Venice’  have been part of a musical journey, inspired by his father’s reinvention of the repertoire, that has seen David Childs become the standard bearer of developing the euphonium into a true, and respected concerto instrument. 

Accompanied with equally respectful relevance by Black Dyke Band, it makes for a recording that is the complete, masterful sum of its ingredient parts. 

Iwan Fox

To purchase: https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/search?search_query=David%20Childs

Play list:

1. Zigeunerweisen (Sarasate)
2. Danny Boy (Trad. arr. Karl Jenkins)
3. Cavatina: Largo al factotum (Rossini)

4. Adagio in F major, K. 580a (Mozart)
5. Rondo alla turca (Mozart)
6. A Little Prayer (Glennie)

7. Variations on Le Carnival de Venise (Arban)
8. Hamabe no Uta (Narita)
9. Facilita (Hartmann)

10. Elfriede (Swift)
11. All those Endearing Young Charms (Mantia)
12. Macushla (MacMurrough)

13. Home on the Range (Leidzen)
14. Brillante (Graham)
15. Flight of the Bumblebee (Rimsky-Korsakov)