Testimonials

ROCHDALE MUSIC SOCIETY CONCERT 11.06.2016 in Heywood Civic Centre

A Review by Graham Marshall

‘Brassy and classy’ - the sound of Prince Bishops Brass, a group of five musicians who share a talent

for presenting a delightful evening’s music-making with something to suit people of every taste.

Trumpeters Mike Walton and Derek Ruffel, Chris Senior on the horn and Trombonist Stuart Gray

came together, underpinned by Stephen Boyd’s tuba, to produce a rich variety of timbre and tone that

fully matched up to the demands of music such as the Fanfare “La Peri” by Paul Dukas which got

the Rochdale Music Society’s concert in Heywood Civic Centre on June 11th off to an appetising start.

Music composed for a particular instrument or group of instruments does not always show up at its

best when translated for others. The PBB’s wide-ranging programme demonstrated that, when

processed by sensitive and imaginative musicians like them, all kinds of music can indeed be

convincingly performed, sometimes even enhanced, when played on instruments quite different from

those originally envisaged. Much depends on the arranger, of course, and that is why those

responsible for the arrangements performed on this occasion are mentioned by name.

The Dukas Fanfare was followed by Paul Archibald’s arrangement of the Suite in D by Jeremiah

Clarke, with it’s concluding fanciful March (often played as a Bridal Procession). An arrangement

of J.S.Bach’s Fugue in G minor was confidently presented, as was Elgar Howarth’s arrangement of

Fancies, Toyes and Dreames by the lesser known English Elisabethan composer, Giles Farnaby. A

work much-loved by Classic fm listeners when played in its string orchestra arrangement, Reff’s

arrangement of the Adagio by the 20th century American composer Samuel Barber, gave the players

the opportunity to show their technical skill in more nuanced and lyrical ways. This they did before

bringing the first half of the concert to an end with a flourish as the music of a song often attributed to

King Henry VIII, Pastime with Good Company, rang out in hearty fashion in Stephen Roberts’

arrangement.

The second half of the concert featured music of a somewhat different kind all of which made quite

considerable interpretative and technical demands on the players, who rose to the occasion with

aplomb. Bram Tovey’s Santa Barbara Sonata, Michael Kamen’s Quintet and three of George

Gershwin’s songs injected a dose of jazz into the proceedings and left the audience happily reeling

after being caught up in a cakewalk, a tango, a stomp and the rhythm anything more than which who

can ask for? Ray Chester’s Northumbrian Songs provided a suitably sobering moment of pause

before Four Episodes from West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein rounded the evening’s music-

making off in style.

This was the last in the Rochdale Music Society’s present Concert Series. Details of the concerts

planned for Season 2016-17 will be available online at www.rochdalemusicsociety.org in the near

future. Among the artistes to be featured will be Clare Hammond, who held the audience enthralled

by her pianism and artistry when she played for us a couple of seasons ago.

Gabrieli to Gershwin

This was a delightful concert – brass playing of high quality that embraced styles to meet many

tastes. From Gabrieli to Gershwin, polyphony to rhythmic harmony, Bach to Count Basie, romantic

to raucous, the audience was wooed by perceptive playing from the opening Fanfare to the final jazz

encore.

The players of the Prince Bishop Brass Ensemble, based in County Durham, have vast

experience in both classical and modern idiom and they have the knack of engaging with the

audience. Players took turns to introduce works with witty but instructive comment: a good ploy.

The first half devoted to early repertoire allowed the players to demonstrate their mastery

of their instruments. In the Suite in D by Jeremiah Clarke (organist at the Chapel Royal in the 16 th

century) there was lovely pianissimo playing from the piccolo trumpets in the Minuet and subtle

dynamics throughout the dance movements with percussion provided by each player in turn as

tambourine and tambour were passed around. The Suite finished with a polished rendering of the

well known Trumpet Voluntary which was well received.

The Queens Hall has a dry acoustic – unlike that of St Mark’s Basilica in Venice where

Gabrieli’s chuch music would have resonated from every balcony into the dome. The players

overcame this handicap admirably with some precise dovetailing of line and the complex polyphonic

texture was performed with disciplined ensemble despite the occasional shaky high note. This was

followed by a much more lyrical work. Development of valves for brass instruments in the late 19 th

century allowed Victor Ewald to indulge in rich chromatic writing and the Ensemble responded with

sustained playing of high quality.

Change of mood (and dress) greeted the second half (though surely the tricky Bach fugue

would have sat more readily in the first half). Some busy flugelhorn antics in the Santa Barbara Sonata and a magical horn

display moved on to an earthy stomp in which all parts shone. Throughout the evening the tonality

of the Ensemble was anchored by admirable playing from horn, trombone and tuba, the rock from

which the flights of fancy of the trumpets were able to soar.

The Horowitz Folk Song (based on the Lass of Richmond Hill) is a nicely rounded composition

and allowed all players moments of brilliance. The pace accelerated for polished playing of

Gershwin, a romp through some Northumbrian folk songs arranged by NE jazz player Ray Chester

and a masterful display of syncopation for the Fats Waller finale. Hexham Music Society once again

gave members new boundaries to discover.

Colin Dickinson

(Hexham Courante, January 2010)

A review of the  Concert by Prince Bishops Brass

You have to be fairly determined to get to SASRA concerts at the Academy, round the back way,

through three formidable steel security fences, but it’s worth it. The Prince Bishops Brass, trumpets,

horn, trombone and tuba, took us on a wide ranging tour, from Victor Ewald, a major figure in music

of the valve trumpet, through jazz, to Bramwell Tovey’s 2007 Santa Barbara Suite. A fanfare is always

a good start; this one by Paul Dukas was unusual in using some minor key phrases. On then, by way

of the familiar Jeremiah Clark’s suite including the trumpet voluntary (or more properly the Prince of

Denmark’s March) that we used to think was by Henry Purcell; a mathematical Bach Fugue; to the

meat course of the evening, Victor Ewald’s Quintet number 1.

After the interval it was ties off and jackets off with Starters (strangely coming after the meat

course). As a jazz lover, this got my pulse racing. Bramwell Tovey’s Suite, with it’s cakewalk, Preacher

on the Pier (on Trumpet with dog collar), Tango and State Street Stomp, including an arrangement of

the familiar tune “Nun Danket” played on the trombone, but with the Thelonius Monk twist of, at

the end, leaving us waiting for the final resolving note that never came.

How did Polly Perkins get from Paddington Green to Northumberland? Well it’s the same tune as

Cushy Butterfield which was one of many tunes featured in Ray Chester’s Songs of Northumbria. On

then to Gershwin, the breaker of musical demarcations, a jazz man whose work has become

accepted even by opera buffs. His summertime from Porgy and Bess, was cited by a recent radio

programme as the most frequently recorded piece of music, over 2000 versions available by artists

ranging from jazz to classical, and still rising. Just to reinforce my view that there are no boundaries

that matter in music.

And on finally to the Roaring Twenties. By now Prince Bishops Brass had thoroughly warmed up and

looked as if, given a pint or two, they would happily jam it up all night. Perhaps they did across the

road in the Central or the Wheatsheaf; I should have gone to check! Don’t miss the next SASRA

concert, Sam Heywood on Piano, Arisa Fujita, Violin and Richard Bayliss, Horn on Friday 7 th of January

at 8pm. It’s not really that hard to find your way through the security fences.

Mike Fulker

(Whitehaven News and SASRA Newsletter, Nov 2010)

Bishopwearmouth Choral Society is to be congratulated on the imaginative and innovative

programme which was performed at the Minster on Saturday night. The combination of Choir and

Brass always promises much and this was to be a thrilling evening enjoyed by all.

A Fanfare for Brass Quintet from the Ballet “La Peri “(Dukas) and “Die Bankelsangerlieder” (anon.)

gave the programme an exhilarating start. Anton Bruckner, the Austrian composer best known for

his symphonies did nevertheless compose some of the most beautiful choral works for his beloved

Church. The choir performed four of his ten motets. They present many challenges, not least that of

singing “a capella” and high passages for the sopranos, challenges which were successfully realised.

Two of the motets were accompanied by three trombones that being the only support throughout

the works. The Minster resonated to some glorious and thrilling choral sounds. The full brass

section of 9 players and two percussionists ended the first half with sparkling and tasteful

performances of “The Prince of Denmark’s March” and the equally well known Suite of Six Dances by

Susato.

The second half could not have begun with a more original and delightful opening. Two

percussionists, Andy Booth and Mark Bolderson performed “Marche de Timbales” by Philidor.

Pleasure was written over the faces of audience and choir alike as they experienced the aural and

visual delights of Baroque military drumming. Equally pleasurable was Andy’s performance of his

own arrangement of “Little Polly’s Polka” by Keith Bartlett for Timpani to which Andy brought in the

Brass to contribute a delicious “oom pah pah accompaniment at the end.

It was fitting that all forces came together for the final piece, “Te Deum” one of John Rutter’s most

popular works. In three movements the two outer sections fully exploit the technical virtuosity of

players and singers alike and it was a credit to all that the balance was so well judged and that every

syllable was clearly audible above the rich textures of the accompaniment. The more contemplative

and reflective central movement featured five soloists drawn from the choir and a highly decorative

organ part performed with sensitivity by Eileen Bown. The Minster was filled with glorious sounds

and final tribute must go to the inspiring leadership and conducting of the Music Director, David

Murray. A receptive audience left the performers in no doubt that it had been an evening to

remember.

Vincent Smith

(Sunderland Echo, June 2010)