Brass Band Logo

NJH Music Logo

Some of the contents of the pages on this site are Copyright © 2016 NJH Music
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

NABBA Part 3

This review of the concert has become a little long but hopefully those
who were there can relive a fine evening and those who weren't can catch
the flavour of the concert. Maybe even our UK friends will read it to
get an idea of how we do it in North America.

Regards to all.

Dave Buckley.

Gala Concert

Featuring The U.S.Army Brass Band and The U.S. Army Herald Trumpets

Director: Captain Andrew J. Esch

Soloists: Russell Gray, cornet and posthorn
		    and
	      Patrick Sheridan, tuba

plus The Three Tenors form the U.S. Army Chorus

After a couple of days of listening to test pieces, the Gala Concert
proved to be just the right medicine for my weary ears. The concert was
listener friendly without being trite and featured outstanding
performances from all participants. Both instrumental soloists as you
would expect showed superb technique and artistry, which we expected but
also proved to be fine entertainers as their introductions of their own
items allowed them to make a real personal connection with the capacity
audience. Russell Gray's kilt was a hit as were Sheridan's black and
white patent shoes. Although the story is too long to tell here, I'm not
sure I would want to drive very far with Patrick Sheridan but I would
listen to his tuba playing anytime, anywhere.

The two thousand seat auditorium of the George Mason University was a
suitably festive and acoustic setting for this concluding event. The
concert began with a fanfare by the U.S. Army Band and Herald Trumpets
followed by the National Anthems of Canada and the United States. we
immediately knew we were in for a fine concert. The band was in top form
under their new conductor Andrew Esch and the fanfare trumpets provided
both an auditory and a visual treat. These are not easy horns to play
but you would never suspect it from the playing.

The first half of the program began with a stately concert march
"Arsenal" by Jan Van der Roost, followed by a brilliant performance of
Smetana's "Dance of the Comedians". Patrick Sheridan, our first soloist
treated us to two tuba solos: the first a world premier, "Badinage" by
Kevin Norbury and the second, "Variations on a Tyrolean Theme" by Arban,
arranged for brass by Mark Freeh. Badinage, a small concerto in three
linked movements, demonstrated Sheridan's amazing technique in the outer
movements and his lyrical qualities in the beautiful flowing slow
movement; a superb conversation between band and soloist. Variations on
a Tyrolean Theme is one of the solos at the back of the Arban book and
one which few of us heave heard. Talking after the program, Patrick
Sheridan told me it was the hardest of Arban's solos and had taken him
eighteen months to master. And master it he did. I was reminded of Denis
Wright's advice to arrangers that you could write anything for tubas
that you could write for cornets.. Maybe for some tubas, but not for
many! The accompaniment from the band was well balanced with the tuba
throughout, not an easy task.

After the band's playing of Grieg's delightful "The Last Spring",
Russell Gray strode on stage in the full Scottish regalia of kilt, knee
sox, dagger etc. and stole our hearts. He played first the "Concerto for
Trumpet" by Harry James, arranged by Elgar Howarth, and then "Domen", a
lovely Norwegian melody written for him by Jan Magna Forda. Gray showed
his versatility and talent by playing the James in a very acceptable
style and then by changing styles completely for the simple, flowing,
relaxed demands of Domen. I must admit that after Russell's vibrato
demonstration and his playing of Zelda on Friday evening, he would have
been the last cornet player I would have expected to do justice to the
unique style of Harry James but he did. The accompaniment for Domen may
need some reworking as it seemed very thick at times for the soloist,
not the fault of the band but the arrangement. Gray's artistry still
shone through.

The band concluded the first half of the evening with"Odyssey" by Kevin
Norbury, the 1999 European Championship Test Piece. Their test piece
chops met the challenge admirably. I must confess though that I was glad
it was the only test piece on the program.

The NABBA Awards Ceremony preceded the intermission. Awards were
presented quickly and received with much joy and applause.We then were
able to spend the rest of the intermission discussing the shortcomings
of the adjudicators. Isn't that what band contests are for?

Wilfred Heaton's classic Salvation Army March "Praise" began the second
half of the program. The announcer introduced it as "quirky" and I must
say Lt.Colonel Tony W. Cason gave it an extremely quirky reading. Cason
whose main job is conducting the U.S. Army Orchestra, mostly at White
House dinners, gave an extremely restrained interpretation and even
played the Da Capo, something which I doubt has ever been done since the
march's publication.

Patrick Sheridan soon got us back into the spirit of the evening with
his performances of "Estrellita" and and the "Concert Etude".
Estrellita, a Mexican melody was featured by Jascha Heifetz but it
sounded completely comfortable and convincing on the tuba. Very
beautiful! The Concert Etude, written by Alexander Goedicke for trumpet
and arranged for brass band and tuba by Bruce Broughton again showed us
Patrick Sheridan's amasing technique. Russell Gray followed this with
the "Post Horn Gallop" by Koenig. This old chestnut not only called out
all the dogs but demonstrated again Gray's versatility and musicianship.
Russell played four solos over the two days, all in completely different
styles and all played absolutely flawlessly and convincingly. Other
cornet players may be glad he is devoting more of his career now to
conducting, also with much success.

The Three Tenors form The U.S. Army Chorus provided a welcome contrast
to the all brass program. Sgt. 1st Class Michael Ford with "Torna A
Surriento"; Staff Sgt. Pablo Talamante with "Grenada"; and Sgt. 1st
Class Antonio Giuliano with "O Sole Mio" made us forget other more
familiar tenors. The capacity audience showed their appreciation by
bringing them all back for a trio rendition of "O Sole Mio" as an
encore. Pavarotti would have been proud of their white scarves. The band
accompaniments, all by Staff Sgt. Michael C. Brown, contributed to the
success of these vocal numbers.

The U.S. Army Band, assisted by Beth Winger at the organ and the U.S.
army herald trumpets, brought the concert to a triumphant conclusion
with the "Finale - Symphony No.3" by Camille Saimt-Saens arranged by
Frank Renton. I doubt if Renton actually arranged this movement with
herald trumpets in mind and Saint-Saens may be spinning in his grave,
but no one in the audience was complaining. It would have been a
suitable ending to a fine weekend except that the band and trumpets gave
us their signature encore, "The Stars and Stripes Forever" by Sousa. Had
he heard it, Sousa would have undoubtedly added herald trumpets and
given the piccolo part to the tubas. It sent everyone home happy. How
better can you end a concert?

David Buckley.
Weston Silver band.






--

[Services] [Contact Us] [Advertise with us] [About] [Tell a friend about us] [Copyright © 2016 NJH Music]