Gilbert Vinter (not Vintner) was a creator and exponent
who bridged two worlds. These two realms overlap only with discomfort
and sometimes with a crashing of gears. He was a luminary of the
brass band world as a composer and led its much needed rebirth
away from tawdry operatic arrangements, sanctimonious Moody and
Sankey religiosity and vacuous display. On the other hand he wrote
for and conducted orchestras both light and more substantial.
He was born at Peaslake,
near Guildford in Surrey on 4 May 1909. At the Royal Academy
he was appointed professor of bassoon in 1938. He joined the
BBC Military Band in 1930 and served as a bassoonist in the
BBC Wireless Military Band and the LPO. He enlisted in the RAF
in 1940 as member of the RAF Central Band and from 1941 to 1945
became Bandmaster, Flying Training Command. Released from the
RAF in November 1945, he formed the International Light Orchestra.
He then succeeded Rae Jenkins as Conductor of the BBC Midland
Light Orchestra based at Birmingham in 1946. He guest-conducted
with various European radio orchestras. His works include forty
original compositions spanning opera through to film music,
and about two hundred arrangements. He spent his last years
at St. Mabyn, Trethevy, Tintagel, Cornwall where he died on
10 October 1969. Vinter's recreations included country life
and natural history.
His orchestral works
include the ballet: Krakov Legend (1965), the Concertino
for clarinet and orchestra; Spring Carol, Symphonic Suite
for piano and orchestra; Concerto Burlando for saxophone
and orchestra (1964) and Piaculum for soprano and orchestra
(1963). Vinter’s poetic brevity Hunter’s Moon for French
horn and orchestra was written while in Torquay as a member
of the wartime Torquay Municipal Orchestra. It was premiered
by John Burden – for whom it was written - in Torquay in 1942.
You can hear it in a finely proportioned recording on Lyrita
SRCD316.
Vinter was much
better known in the brass band world and the following brass
band works should be noted: The Dover Coach; Salute
to Youth (Resilience, Romance, Relaxation) (1960); TUC
Centenary March (1968); Vizcaya (1968); Symphony
of Marches (1963); Rhapsody, Simon Called Peter (1963);
Variation on a Ninth (1964, National Championship, GUS
Footwear/Stanley Boddington); Triumphant Rhapsody (1965,
National Championship, Fairey Band/Leonard Lamb); John O'Gaunt
(1968, British Open Championship, Black Dyke Mills/Geoffrey
Brand); James Cook, Circumnavigator (1969, first perf.
British Open Championship 1974, Black Dyke Mills/Roy Newsome)
and Spectrum (1969, British Open Championship, Grimethorpe
Colliery/George Thompson). For brass quartet we should list
his Elegy and Rondo, Fancy's Knell and Alla
Burlesca.
The tracks featured
on this CD come from four of the twelve LPs recorded on the
Pye label by Black Dyke between 1966 and 1980. Doyen did not
have access to the later tapes so had to work on prime stock
surviving LPs. For this reason a little tolerance is demanded
of the listener. The sound has razor-sharp definition but with
just a touch of blast distortion. Really though the sound is
most impressive. It has probably never sounded as good as it
does here. John O'Gaunt is somewhat Waltonian with intrepid
playing and in the moments of hushed repose the Westminster
chimes can be heard magically poised. Spectrum is spectacular
with Vinter clearly having learnt from Janáček. This calls
for and receives – on the nose - virtuoso playing. It’s musically
intriguing too and full of soloistic incident. There’s also
a sense of American jazziness and foot-tapping exuberance. The
Triumphant Rhapsody is characterised by writing tat is
stern yet effervescent gradually relaxing into something more
occluded. The clip clop of wooden blocks can be heard at one
moment and at 7.01 there’s a lovely Tchaikovskian theme.
Perhaps the finest
of these brass band works and the one that straddles the divide
between band world and concert hall is the dramatic cantata
The Trumpets. This draws on trumpet references in the
Bible. The movements are Blazon, Destruction,
Dedication and Revelation. It has been commercially
recorded twice. The first came from HMV in November 1966 with
Owen Brannigan and the All Star Brass conducted by the composer.
Then Pye recorded it in March 1969 and this is what we hear
now. In the 1980s The Trumpets was conducted by Maurice
Handford for BBC Radio 3 with Forbes Robinson and the combined
brass of Besses, Fodens and the Halle. It’s a work with some
pretty strong Waltonian references. The recording has real bite
which makes the glories of Black Dyke’s fanfares all the more
vivid against the Holst-like sternness encountered in the first
movement. The second movement includes a bell carillon redolent
of similar writing in John O’Gaunt. There are more Walton
echoes later in the exultant shouts of joy decorated with tambourine
impacts and in the wailing lamentations. The bass Michael Langdon
rides high over the apocalyptic storms with attention distracted
only momentarily by a brief sequence of deep recurrent LP ‘plops’
in the background - discreet but noticeable. The music takes
a real hold with its picturesque squalls, whirlwinds, squirming
horror and evocations of clouds of ‘locusts with stings in their
tails’. The music finally gathers itself for a touch of angelic
serenity coupled with a faintly cheery RVW blessing. Maurice
Murphy and his trumpet take the role of cantor. It is a fine
work and one in which Vinter took pride. He continued to work
on it until his death.
You might also like
to track down a largely complementary Polyphonic CD from 1994
(QPRL058D) in which the Fairey Band is conducted by Major Peter
Parkes: Spectrum (1968), Vizcaya, Mattheson's
Air, Salute To Youth (Resilience, Romance,
Relaxation) (1960), TUC Centenary March (1968),
Entertainments (Caprice, Elegy, March),
Lisbon Carnival, Challenging Brass (1963) and
James Cook Circumnavigator (1969). The last piece was
my introduction to Vinter’s music from a BBC radio broadcast
in May 1977 by the Boness and Caradon Band conducted by David
James.
This well documented
and atmospherically designed CD could easily have been seen
as purely for brass band anoraks. Its catchment is wider – not
least because of The Trumpets but also as an appetite-whetter
for Vinter’s orchestral concert music.
Rob Barnett
Related items on MusicWeb International:
Article on Vinter by Phil
Scowcroft
Review of Lyrita
SRCD316 including Hunter’s Moon
Dennis Brain’s Hunter’s Moon on BBC
Legends
James Cook on Doyen
Salute to Youth on Doyen
Maurice Murphy
(trumpet); Michael Langdon (baritone) (The Trumpets) 
