SLFB & LCFB joint programme at Regent Hall

If you had happened to be sauntering down Oxford Street on the sweltering occasion of the Summer Solstice (Saturday, June 21), you would have seen a poster displayed on the pavement: Brass. On a summer afternoon. And you would have joined a sizeable number of people enjoying a brass band concert by two fine bands in The Salvation Army’s Regent Hall. Rewinding the clock nine years, the South London and London Central Fellowship Bands joined forces in 2016 to present a successful concert at the Croydon Citadel, and there was a wish to bring the two bands together again soon, at a north London venue. But both bands changed conductor; then the small matter of Covid intervened, and lastly, the two SA divisions the bands represented were subsumed into one London Division. But finally, we made it!

The first segment of the concert was in the hands of the South London Fellowship Band (SLFB), conducted by Derick Kane. The band announced its presence with a dissonant “Keeping his soldiers fighting” – the conductor’s arrangement of the Herbert Booth melody, entitled Victory for ever, which rang around the hall.

SLFB presented two major works – one, Durham Snapshots, being an original work by Derick Kane. The initial idea for this composition arose after the composer spent time in Durham following COVID. Durham Cathedral is the burial place of St. Cuthbert, and the hymn tune of this name is used throughout in a lively set of variations.

For their other major work, SLFB revived a number that was published in 1949: Bramwell Cole’s Portraits from St. Paul’s Epistles. The musical portraiture depicts (1) The Happy Man; (2) The Supplicant; (3) The Man of Valour; (4) The Triumphant Man. The last movement features the stirring hymn ‘Ten thousand times ten thousand’, which has sadly been removed from our songbook (although the tune – Alford – has been retained in our tune book).

In its segment, SLFB also featured a male voice song, Be Still (Evans arr. Kane), led by Adrian Horwood and Marcus Venables’ challenging arrangement: Hear the call.

The audience was treated to four fine soloists during the concert.

First up was SLFB Principal Cornet Andy Pretious. Based on the Sidney Cox chorus “I love him better every day,” the solo, Joyful Song, was composed by Derick Kane especially for Andy, who tackled the melody and variations in an assured manner.

The haunting yet beautiful melody of Ennio Morricone’s Gabriel’s Oboe (from the film The Mission) was equally beautifully played by LCFB Principal Cornet Maurice Patterson.

SLFB Principal Euphonium Adrian Horwood chose to play Celtic Dream, a movement from Peter Graham’s “Windows of the World.” Just a handful of parts are effectively featured in the accompaniment, demonstrating the composer’s skill.

David Daws, deputy bandmaster of the LCFB, has been a soloist with both bands on numerous occasions – and on numerous instruments! This afternoon, we were delighted by his skills on the trombone. David featured two short, contrasting numbers. The first, a Samba Blessèd Assurance from the pen of William Himes, demonstrated a technique very much reminiscent of Don Lusher in emulating a vibrato using the slide. The second was a bright and breezy number by Terry Camsey: Sing a Happy Song. Both items delighted the audience.

The second segment of the concert featured the London Central Fellowship Band (LCFB), conducted by Dudley Bright.

Their first major work was Edward Gregson’s Variations on ‘Laudate Dominium’.

For many of us, the first time that we heard this work would have been in the same hall when the London (Ontario) Citadel Band toured the UK in 1976 (composed for this tour and conducted by the composer’s brother, Bramwell). Shrugging off the extremely hot and humid conditions, LCFB gave a spirited rendition of this well–known–but–never–easy score.

Tchaikovsky’s 4th Symphony is one of the most popular symphonic works of the classical era. William Gordon’s arrangement of excerpts from the fourth movement was LCFB’s second major contribution. This arrangement is challenging for both players and conductor, and the LCFB took full advantage of the Regent Hall acoustic with this exciting music.

Three items gave listeners a break from the loud, the fast and the furious. SLFB played Olaf Ritman’s sensitive arrangement of The Lord is Gracious, whilst LCFB played William Himes’ thoughtful interpretation of the well-known hymn Amazing Grace. Both bands united to play Prelude on Lavenham (Nobes). LCFB Chaplain, Major Steve Moir, in a short bible thought, spoke of the traumas of moving home and things being “lost and found”. Quoting from Jeremiah 29:13, Major Steve challenged his listeners with the verse “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

It would be unusual for a brass band concert not to feature a March. This concert featured two fine festival marches: LCFB, with The Witness, composed when William Himes was just 18, and the united bands played William Gordon’s Salvation’s Song. After the benediction, the audience was treated to an encore dating back over 90 years: the March Montreal Citadel (Norman Audoire).

Possibly saving the “best” till last, both Fellowship bands, under the direction of Dudley Bright, played Eric Ball’s Tone Poem, The Kingdom Triumphant. This music, from the pen of a master, is centred around the Second Coming, ending with the triumphant Advent Hymn, Lo! he comes with clouds descending, to the magnificent tune of Helmsley.