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Easter Glory – Royal Tunbridge Wells 

The band’s annual visit to Tunbridge Wells, on the Monday of Holy Week, again attracted a large congregation to share in an evening of Easter Meditation.

An appropriately sombre atmosphere was created by two pre-meeting items;

Stainer’s ‘God So Loved The World’ (arr. Marshall) and a new duet for Cornet and Soprano, ‘Everywhere’, based around Andrew Maycock’s treatment of John Gowans’ lyrics. The soloists were Andy Pretious and Jeremy Davis.

The main programme then opened with ‘Holy, Holy, Holy’ and the congregational song ‘O come and look awhile on him’, perfectly focusing our thoughts on the essential purpose of the event. ‘All in the April evening’ was then played with the band, now fully warmed-up, tightly mastering the technical demands of its numerous phrase breaks and restarts.

Whilst no band likes to be told that its vocal item is a highlight of any programme, it is undeniable that the SLFB sings extremely well and ‘Be still for the presence of the Lord’ produced a moment of intense blessing. This was followed by ‘Burdens are lifted’, which has rightfully become a staple of our programmes of late. With its pleasing melodies beautifully arranged by our MD, it demonstrates the expansive warmth of the band’s sound and is always a joy to hear.

The programme included two ‘substantial’ items, the first being George Marshall’s ‘Great and Glorious’. Although published more than 90 years ago it still brings enormous relevance to an evening such as this with its joyous anticipation of Christ’s resurrection. Conscious of the fact that the band had invested a significant amount of rehearsal time in the piece it was particularly pleasing to hear it performed with confidence and assurance, fully conveying the composer’s original inspiration.

A period of focus on Christ as the bringer of light to mankind culminated in the band playing Dean Goffin’s meditation ‘The Light of the World’ followed by the evening’s other major work, Leslie Condon’s ‘Easter Glory‘. A suite with three movements 1. Day of Death, 2. Day of Mourning and 3. Day of Resurrection,  each section was introduced by a helpful narration from Major Ruth Downey, enhancing the impact of a fine overall performance.

Interspersed with the band items, there were three excellent contributionsfrom the Tunbridge Wells songsters; ‘In the garden’ (Leonard Ballantine), ‘Conquered’ (Theodore Monod arr. Karen Krinjak) and ‘I know a fount’ (Oliver Cooke). The group’s quality of sound, blend and balance was most impressive and added significantly to the success of the whole evening.

Finally a special mention to Graham Kinsley whose artistry in the provision of highly-professional ‘overheads’ adds a further dimension to the understanding and efficacy of the musical message.

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