The Black Dyke Band
has certainly come a long way since
its humble beginnings as a brass and
reed band in Queensbury, Yorkshire in
1816. The establishment of the brass
band that we know today dates back to
1855 when John Foster and Son took the
band under its wing, hence "Dyke"
this year celebrates its 150th
anniversary.
It has already been
a momentous start to the year on the
contest stage as the band recently took
the title European Champions for the
first time in ten years. Later in the
year they will defend their 2004 National
title at the Royal Albert Hall.
This latest CD release
is one of several that have appeared
in recent months. Later in June 2005
the band will take centre-stage along
with Australian multi-instrumentalist
James Morrison at the Bridgewater Hall
in Manchester for the official anniversary
concert.
This is the fifth volume
of Doyen’s essential Dyke series. The
band’s Music Director, Nicholas Childs
was the founder of the label. The discs
so far have taken a journey through
the more popular and by and large traditional
side of the their repertoire. The choice
of music here is a little more wide-ranging
than on some of the previous discs.
It takes in the familiar alongside film
music, Elgar Howarth’s transcriptions
of Elizabethan court music by John Bull
and William Byrd and the major work
by Michael Ball ... all the flowers
of the mountain ... that won the
band its 2004 National title.
Peter Graham has built
a reputation as one of the band movement’s
most popular composers in recent years.
His brief opener Celebrate Rotary
demonstrates the lighter side of his
personality. As the title suggests the
work was commissioned by the Rotary
Club as a celebration of its relationship
with the Black Dyke Band. Graham has
responded with a bright, up-beat modern
march that gets the disc off to an enjoyably
melodious and toe-tapping start.
Glinka’s overture to
his opera Ruslan and Ludmilla
has been around for many years in this
arrangement by the late, great Walter
Hargreaves; always one of the great
characters on the band scene. It still
remains a challenge to pull off well
at tempo but here Dyke are in magnificent
form. Nicholas Childs guides the band
with admirable control and the dovetailing
running semi-quavers flow seamlessly
throughout.
Similarly Elgar Howarth’s
arrangements of John Bull and William
Byrd stem from his days working closely
with the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble
and the Grimethorpe Colliery Band. At
one time these arrangements were heard
regularly although perhaps less so in
recent years. As is so often the case
with early music Howarth’s choices work
well in the context of the brass band,
particularly when scored with the skill
demonstrated here. The playing is magisterial
and despite the pyrotechnics of the
outer two pieces, Earl of Oxford’s
March and King’s Hunting Jig,
it is John Bull’s beautiful central
Pavane that for me shines through.
In some ways Michael
Ball’s ... all the flowers of the
mountain ... is the odd piece out
here in that it is the only truly major
work on the disc. However, it is good
to have it laid down on CD both as a
stunning celebration of Dyke’s winning
performance at the 2004 National finals
and because it was not particularly
well received by bands and audience
alike at that contest. The reason I
suspect is a grossly unjust one in that
unusually for a test piece it ends in
rapt quietude. No doubt those that were
there to appreciate a piece of music
purely for its quality will feel rather
differently about it as do I. Inspired
by Killiney Bay and Killiney Hill and
taking its title from an anonymous poem
the work is essentially a symphonic
rhapsody. Despite the introspection
of the opening and close it is a highly
demanding test-piece on both technical
and musical levels. The gentle unfolding
of the opening material - there is something
of a nod to the worlds of Bax and Moeran
here - is some of the most affecting
original music for band that I have
heard for some time. Overall Ball creates
a satisfyingly unified work that combines
its essential lyricism with real technical
and individual demands in the faster,
often scherzo-like, central sections.
In soloistic terms most of the band
have an opportunity to shine, none more
so than the bass trombone (listen to
the cadenza at 2:14) so often neglected
individually but here proving that it
deserves its place in the limelight.
Goff Richards’ transcription
of the famous and touchingly beautiful
Romance from Shostakovich’s film
score for The Gadfly draws some
lovely sounds although I was not entirely
taken with the licence that Richards
has taken with the arrangement. Nicholas
Childs’ new transcription of Tchaikovsky’s
1812 Overture plays well to the
strengths of a band that he knows so
well, resulting in a gloriously sonorous
opening and there’s playing of real
fire in the ensuing music. The ending
is captured quite magnificently and
whilst I have to admit that I usually
cringe when I see the "1812"
on band programmes the playing here
is so irresistible that it really has
breathed new life into an old banding
warhorse for me.
I have saved a final
deserving mention for the four featured
soloists: cornetist Roger Webster, David
Thornton on euphonium, John Doyle on
flügel horn and Lesley Howie on
tenor horn. All four acquit themselves
exceptionally well in their contrasting
pieces but in particular Roger Webster
proves himself to be an artist of the
highest order. I guarantee that you
will struggle to find a finer demonstration
of legato cornet playing anywhere. Whilst
I accept that purists may struggle with
the finale of Mendelssohn’s Violin
Concerto played on a tenor horn,
Lesley Howie produces a remarkably warm
and full-bodied tone. Allied with faultless
articulation this really is a joy to
hear. David Thornton gives a commanding
performance of Simone Mantia’s variations
on Auld Lang Syne and
although Mantia’s name may not be well
known all becomes clearer when one realises
that he was the Italian-born euphonium
soloist in Sousa’a band before switching
to the equally famous band of Arthur
Pryor. In complete contrast the film
Children of Sanchez (released
in 1978 and starring Anthony Quinn)
gave Norwegian R Gilje the basis for
his arrangement of Chuck Mangione’s
strongly Mexican-flavoured score. The
band captures the Latin rhythms well
but it is John Doyle’s flügel playing
that is truly outstanding as the music
progresses from a lyrical opening to
a blazing all-out close.
Although I often shy
away from the lighter side of the brass
band repertoire this disc has been a
pleasure to review and is a fitting
celebration of a truly great band celebrating
a milestone in their history. Recorded
in the often used but amply suitable
venue of Morley Town Hall the Doyen
24-bit recording is both vivid and detailed.
Christopher Thomas
Black Dyke Band/Dr. Nicholas J. Childs 
