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Band Reviews

 

When you have the countries leading Choral society and one of the countries top bands you should be in for a great night of music making and that was certainly the case in what was a stunning concert from start to finish at Huddersfield Town Hall.

Conducted by Hepworth’s MD Mark Bentham, the choir and band opened with a rousing performance of Zadok the Priest. The quality of sound from both ensembles alongside the precision and balance between them both was superb, and the audience loved it.

The Band opened their solo spot with music by Mendelssohn, and his Saltarello from The Italian Symphony. Good music this and well played too with plenty of control of balance and timbre. Hepworth’s principal cornet player Rob Westacott then delivered the Rondo & Allegretto from Weber’s Clarinet Concerto no.1. This once again showed what a talented cornet player he is, producing excellent technique and a lovely lyrical sense of the musical line. The reception he received told its own story.

The Choral Society then gave us two pieces conducted by James Morgan. First Linden Lea by Vaughan Williams followed by How Lovely are thy Dwellings by Brahms, both showcasing excellent control and musicality with superb balance.

A joint item followed arranged by Mark Bentham with the popular Jesu joy of Mans Desiring by Bach conducted by James Morgan that drew out some lovely moments from both ensembles in perfect harmony. The band ended the first half with music by Borodin in his colourful Polovtsiennes Dances .

The second half opened with The Hallelujah Chorus from the Messiah and the power that the choral generated was stunning, with the band giving sensitive accompaniment . The band then gave us three pieces, Czardas, Adagio for Strings and finally The March from the 6^th Symphony by Tchaikovsky. All three pieces were thoroughly enjoyed by the audience and showed a band at ease and on good solid form.

The Choral Society began their solo items with The King Shall Rejoice by Handel followed by Cantique du Jean Racine by Faure finishing with the Battle Hymn of the Republic arranged by Steffe. All three provided a finely balanced counterpoint to the band.

The finale for the band and choir was an arrangement by Mark Bentham of In Trutina; Ave Formosossima; O Fortuna from Carmina Burana featuring some superb tenor horn playing by Rebecca Landon in the first movement and some wonderful ensemble playing even at the end of a taxing programme.

The Lost Chord brought the evening to an emotional climax bringing a tear to many and a standing ovation was much deserved for both band and choir and organist.

The band is certainly proud of its 125 year history and to celebrate this with the towns own great choral society, The Huddersfield Choral Society was a tribute to the musical talent of both ensembles.

 

Hepworth (Lanson Homes) with a performance of control, discipline and balance left little doubt that it fully deserved to come where it did in the prizes. A great deal of praise should be directed at both the MD Mark Bentham and the Hepworth players for the way in which they delivered their account.

A few weeks ago in Cambridge they got it wrong, but here they showed just how fine a band they really are when they play with an appreciation of their real strengths. Their powerful cornet section was balanced with the rest of the band whilst there was real subtlety in the observance of dynamic markings. Nothing was overdone with the relationship between the differing tempi clear and defined with the melodic line always of prime importance.

Robert Westacott was on excellent form leading from the principal cornet chair to take the Best Soloist award, whilst soprano player Mark Smedley put in a Trojan effort despite recovering from illness and James Fieldhouse on euphonium once more showed what a promising talent he is. Mark Bentham will be a very pleased MD and deservedly so - his intelligent approach paid rich dividends and if they can deliver yet more performances of this quality at Symphony Hall and London then they will be strong contenders for top honours again

 

After a tentative opening, Mark Bentham’s understated delivery of the music with an emphasis on control of both dynamics and tempi delivered a wonderful performance of real stature. The fun and games of the Caribbean style section was perhaps the best of the day, taken at a tempo where all the detail could be heard whilst the extended accelerando section towards the final climax was brilliantly measured.

This was high class playing with the whole ensemble playing like a well drilled machine - full of confidence, stamina and controlled dynamics. The judges were deeply impressed by the approach and placed them as runners up, with that all important qualification place for London booked for October. Hepworth continue to fly very high indeed and showed once more that they are now the genuine article when it comes to challenging for major honours.

 

Hepworth opened what was to be a quite memorable concert with a rousing performance of Edward German’s march The President. Conducted by Mark Bentham the band followed on with the Overture to II Seraglio by Mozart. This music is light in texture and overall the band captured the mood well with some lovely touches from soprano and solo cornet.

The choir opened their offering with Funiculi, Funicula arranged by Noble, the sixty three members producing a well balanced sound under the leadership of Thomas Meredith and followed up with four more items the pick of which was When The Saints Go Marching In arranged by Rutter .

Hepworth returned with a real tour de force in Howard Snell’s arrangement of the March From Tchaikovsky's 6^th Symphony in which the trombone section and basses excelled. The audience certainly enjoyed it and gave the performance a warm reception for what had been stirring stuff indeed.

It was now time for the concerts special guests The Trusts Waitakere Brass Band from New Zealand to make their first contribution to the evening. Conducted by Simon Kerwin they opened in a light mood with It's a long way to Tipperary that was neatly presented even if it was an even longer way for them back home to New Zealand This was followed by a moving performance of Edward Elgar’s Nimrod in which the playing really captured the emotion of the music.

They ended the first half of the concert with Phillip Sparke’s superb Land Of The Long White Cloud. This music was a most appropriate choice and the band gave a spirited performance with some well balanced sounds especially from the middle of the ensemble.

Waitakere opened the second half with the famous music from Zadok The Priest and whilst this suffered from noticeable tuning problems in the quiet opening sections it settled down to some fine playing all round the band. This was followed by Matthew Van Emmerik on euphonium playing Benedictus from The Armed Man by Karl Jenkins .The soloist gave a warm and convincing performance of this superb music with good accompaniment from the band. It was a high class performance indeed both from soslois and band. Waitakere ended their contribution to the evening with Vita Lux with some fine contributions from the percussion section and some vibrant cornet and soprano work.

The Choir returned next with five items, the highlights being Alexander’s Rag Time Band and a stunning rendering of My Way. This was male voice singing at its best.

Hosts, Hepworth then returned to the stage with a delightful performance of Vaughn Williams English Folk Song Suite with all three movements carried of with aplomb. James Fieldhouse then gave a scintillating performance on euphonium of Peter Graham’s Brillante showing great technique and sound. The contrast between the two fine exponents of the instrument was made even more enjoyable by both being on top form on the night.

The concert came to a close with Parry’s Jerusalem and Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance with the audience singing and waving there flags in good old Last Night at the Proms fashion.

This had been a good all round concert with excellent contributions from all three ensembles. Simon Kirwin told 4BR that he was delighted at the way the band had been received both on this evening and their two previous concerts with the Fairy Band in Buxton and in Glasgow with the Scottish Co-op Band. The players themselves said it had been a great experience and were overwhelmed by the reception they received at this evening’s concert in particular. Well done to Gilbert Symes for his compering and an audience of around eight hundred certainly went home very happy and entertained by what they had heard.

David Tinker

If you get to hear a runners up performance as good as the one produced by Black Dyke at St. George’s Hall this year then you can count yourself lucky. If you also get to hear a winning performance as good as the one produced by Grimethorpe Colliery (UK Coal) on the other hand, you can count it as one of the great brass band experiences of your life.

Both bands were colossal: Dyke, supremely controlled, balanced and purposeful; Grimethorpe incalculably thrilling, riveting and powerful. There was so little to choose between them - and we are talking in minutiae of brilliance, that in a way it was a pity one had to win and one had to lose.

It does take a special band to win in Bradford, upsets in the Championship Section are rarities indeed, and adjudicators David Read and James Scott must have been licking their lips in anticipation before entering the box. They weren’t to be disappointed, and in the end they got the result just about perfectly right. The standard of the top eight ranged from the decent to the scintillating. James Scott was spot on when he stated that some of the playing was "as good as brass band playing you are likely to hear." The top two were of course exceptional, but YBS in third place delivered an account that would have in the majority of Regionals come away with top honours, whilst Rothwell in fourth would have easily secured qualification in just as many.

Behind them came four fine performances from Brighouse & Rastrick, Hepworth, Carlton Main and Sellers International which were still of a quality that would most probably have seen the pushing for a podium place elsewhere too.

Hepworth were many peoples fancy to put up a strong challenge, not perhaps for the title itself, but certainly for one of the two qualification places on offer. That they did.

This was further confirmation of their stature, with a performance that at times really did thrill, 10% fewer clips and blips and they could now be looking for B&B in Kensington for there was so much quality about the vast majority of their performance.

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