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Very Best of British Brass
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ALTO ALN1984 [79]

Harry Mortimer, one of the great brass band conductors, is represented by no fewer than twelve of the pieces on this 27-track release from alto. It’s the follow-up to the inaugural volume, ALN1966, which focused on military bands such as the Coldstream and Grenadier Guards.

The first nine tracks come from an LP called ‘The World of Brass Bands’ issued by Decca in 1971. The massed bands run through a light-hearted repertoire, from the blazing bravura of the William Tell overture through the ochre-rich sonorities of Finlandia arranged by Thomas Bidgood, the splendid Trumpet Voluntary through to the bold braggadocio of Trombones to the Fore. To show that the bands can finesse their sound and sonority they also provide a splendid – and drolly entitled - Whispering Brass.
 
The theme of the massed ensembles continues in the three items taken from the 1963 EMI album ‘Fantasy in Brass’. Players from Faireys, Fodens, GUS and the Morris Band are involved, once again directed by Mortimer. The pieces are succinct but potent: The Faithful Hussar, When Johnny Comes Marching Home – a sassy arrangement with an interpolated ‘There’s No Place Like Home’ to emphasise the home motif - and Sousa on Parade, a popular medley. The stylistic remit extends to the hymnal in the next selection from the Grimethorpe Colliery Band and their conductor, George Thompson. This comes from a 1968 Pye LP. After the virtuosity of earlier examples, the reflective sincerity of the Grimethorpe comes as - well - a blessing. The rich sonority cultivated by this band is audible throughout and my own relative disappointment is that Cwm Rhondda and The Old Hundredth are heard in such short, tight performances lasting barely much more than a minute or a minute and a half.

The last selection is taken from an even earlier LP, ‘The Black Dyke Mills Band’, released in 1964. It’s therefore the earliest of the various albums that have been transferred. There are five tracks, popular but cleverly arranged. One features the eminent cornet soloist Jim Shepherd who summons up the shade of the great Czech soloist Bohumir Kryl in Carnival of Venice, which he plays with no little panache and virtuosity. Percussion plays its part in this final selection as can be savoured in the Thunder and Lightning Polka.
 
This is a colourful selection, well-sourced and presented, and with attractive performances across a variety of repertoire.

Jonathan Woolf

Contents
Massed Brass Bands of Fodens, Fairey Aviation & Morris Motors/Harry Mortimer
1. William Tell Overture – finale (Rossini)
2. Three of a Kind (Heyler)
3. The Donkey Serenade (Friml)
4. Finlandia (Sibelius arr Bidgood)
5. Trumpet Voluntary (Clarke arr Wright)
6. Serenade (Heykens)
7. Trombones to the Fore (Scull arr Pope)
8. Whispering Brass (Haysom arr Gay)
9. Marching Trumpets (Seymour/Siebert)
Harry Mortimer and his All-Star Brass from Faireys, Fodens, GUS and Morris Bands
10 The Faithful Hussar (Frantzen)
11 When Johnny Comes Marching Home (Trad arr Howe)
12 Sousa on Parade (Medley- Sousa arr Palmer)
Hymns with Grimethorpe Colliery Band/George Thompson
13 Aberystwyth – Saviour When in Dust to Thee (Parry)
14 Bethany – Nearer my God to Thee (Mason)
15 Crimond – The Lord’s my Shepherd (Irvine)
16 Easter Hymn – Christ the Lord is Risen Today (Anon)
17 Eventide – Abide with me (Monk)
18 The Old Rugged Cross (Trad arr Thompson)
19 St. Clements – The Day Thou Gavest (Schofield arr Thompson)
20 Jerusalem – And did Those Feet (Parry arr Rimmer)
21 Cwm Rhondda – Guide Me O Thou Great Redeemer (Hughes)
22 Old Hundredth – All People that on Earth do Dwell (arr Allan)
Black Dyke Mills Band/Geoffrey Witham/Major C.H. Jaeger*
23 Spanish Harlequin (Haysom arr Pope)
24 Carnival of Venice (W Rimmer arr D Rimmer) Solo cornet: Jim Shepherd
25 Orpheus in the Underworld – Can-Can (Offenbach arr Hibbert)*
26 Thunder and Lightning Polka (J Strauss II arr Wright)*
27 The Mikado – Selection (Sullivan)