Prom 30: The Tredegar Band joins BBC NOW (8.08.22)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

19:00 Monday 8 August 2022
Royal Albert Hall

Gavin Higgins: Concerto Grosso for Brass Band and Orchestra (BBC commission: world première)
Hector Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique


Tredegar Band
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Ryan Bancroft conductor

‘Convinced that his love is spurned, the artist poisons himself with opium …’ Hector Berlioz never did anything by halves, and in his Symphonie fantastique a doomed love story becomes a no-holds-barred phantasmagoria: a fabulous, wide-eyed fantasy of severed heads, demonic orgies and unrequited love, written in the grip of an obsession and scored in technicolour for a supersized orchestra. Ryan Bancroft unleashes the full power of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and goes even larger with the world premiere of Gavin Higgins’s new Concerto Grosso celebrating the British brass band tradition. A full symphony orchestra collides with the multi-award winning Tredegar Band (stars of the movie Pride) – and sends sparks hurtling.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

BBM, what do you think?

[bluestateprommer]

Well, got caught out by the 7 PM start time, so that I only caught the last 10 minutes of the new Gavin Higgins work. I need to go back and hear the whole thing from start to finish before rendering fair comment on it (except to say that I thought that I heard a whiff of James MacMillan in the last section). Did hear the encore, GH's arrangement of 'Ar Lan Y Mor', which marks a rare moment when the presenter (here, NHT) announced the title of the encore in advance, in a bit of a "spoiler" moment. However, she did mention that Ryan Bancroft ceded the podium to Ian Porthouse, so the "spoiler" moment is perhaps understandable in that light. I don't know this traditional Welsh number, but GH's arrangement struck me as the diametric opposite of the last part of his work, in being spare of notes and texture.

But again, need to go back later and hear the whole work later. Berlioz awaits.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Well, got caught out by the 7 PM start time, so that I only caught the last 10 minutes of the new Gavin Higgins work. I need to go back and hear the whole thing from start to finish before rendering fair comment on it (except to say that I thought that I heard a whiff of James MacMillan in the last section). Did hear the encore, GH's arrangement of 'Ar Lan Y Mor', which marks a rare moment when the presenter (here, NHT) announced the title of the encore in advance, in a bit of a "spoiler" moment. However, she did mention that Ryan Bancroft ceded the podium to Ian Porthouse, so the "spoiler" moment is perhaps understandable in that light. I don't know this traditional Welsh number, but GH's arrangement struck me as the diametric opposite of the last part of his work, in being spare of notes and texture.

But again, need to go back later and hear the whole work later. Berlioz awaits.

I thought the Higgins piece had some really skilful and virtuosic brass brand writing - an interesting piece and so- much better than the NYO commission the other night.

[edashtav]

Gavin Higgins Concerto Grosso for brass band and orchestra in five movements

How to characterise Gavin Higgins? He has a great command of orchestration and a high level of invention and skill. His music sounds well and surprisingly ‘new’ considering its traditional elemental materials.

1.Island (mysteriously)
Plenty of quiet, sustained melodic writing. Some of its material reminded me of another working class composer, Mark-Anthony Turnage in his melancholic, ‘keening’ mode. Did it remind us that brass band members sit on the seats of their forebears, playing their instruments?

2.Coal (mechanico) The composer comes from the Forest of Dean - a home to coal and iron mining since Roman times. Andrew Clements in the Guardian compared this movement to Mosolov’s Iron Foundry.

WHERE THERE'S MUCK THERE'S BRASS
John Curtis
Ebonised men, escaping
Bondage in the dark;
Armed with a dragon's hoard of wrought brass, Create deep harmony and bring to pass
The liquid grace notes of the dulcet lark.


3.Class (confidently)
Replete with Working Class pride and capable of acting with aggression and united purpose when proclaiming their rights.
[ The first three movements were linked together as were the final two.]
……………

4.Sentimental Music (espressivo)
The orchestra’s role is subservient, more continuo than the occasionally dominant partner found in most Concerti Grossi. The brass band have the run of the tunes and distinguish themselves with some quiet, high solos.

5.Finale: Contest Music (with driving energy) Here the band was at the races showing its paces. The orchestra was akin to the crowd of friendly faces egging them on, and appreciating the individual and corporate virtuosity of the amateur riders in the Tredegar band. Moments of reflection took us full circle to roots in the first movement. A Short Ride in a Fast Machine took us to an unmistakable final chord, the clearest possible invitation to have a clap.

Overall, the work was a paean of passionate praise for the composer’s roots in the British Brass Band movement. An occasional work that will offer such bands a great day out, their reward for endless rehearsals. The Tredegar Band played with brio and great control in a traditional tight, lucky-horseshoe formation that contrasted with the more linear spread of the orchestra. The performance was remarkable for its panache, polish and punch.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Excellent analysis Edashtav . I suspect you join me In preferring this to Julian Anderson’s latest …
This was one of the best Proms commissions this season.

[edashtav]

Excellent analysis Edashtav . I suspect you join me In preferring this to Julian Anderson’s latest …
This was one of the best Proms commissions this season.

Yes, although I have reservations about Gavin’s piece it was ‘authentic’, full of love and generosity of spirit.

Julian’s piece aimed higher but failed to hit its target by a country mile.

[Pulcinella]

Three stars from The Times:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bbc-now-bancroft-review-an-invigorating-and-rare-brass-band-prom-zghcw72s5?shareToken=c25a623a0d3179a9745d859dca44ae1b

[bluestateprommer]

Finally caught up with the new Gavin Higgins commission from start to finish. I can understand the positive reaction in this thread to GH's Concerto Grosso. I found the slower music more compelling, while the faster passages were perhaps a bit more generic to my tin ear. But overall, a very fine work, which hopefully will get some future performances and traffic. Obviously it's not the most financially practical situation to recruit a brass band to perform alongside a full symphony orchestra with regularity, even in less fiscally stressed times. Fingers crossed for the future of this work.

In that light, it makes sense that RB included the cornet part in "Un bal". Interesting that RB did not take the 1st movement repeat, but did take the 4th movement repeat. Given a choice of only one, taking the "Marche au supplice" repeat is the better choice, as the 4th movement is otherwise too short, IMHO.

[smittims]

I enjoyed the Higgins concerto. It was a good idea to start quietly; many people would have expected a sort of fanfare opening.

Inevitably one thinks of Hindemith's Concert Music for brass and strings, and another work that sprang to mind, maybe forgotten nowadays, is Laurie Johnson's 'Synthesis' (a.k.a. 'Symphony') for jazz orchestra and symphony orchestra, a colourful and unpretentious entertainment of about 40 minutes, redolent of Walton, VW, Ron Goodwin, etc.