National Brass Band Championships - 15th October 2011

'Breath of Souls' has been composed for a very special musical milestone on October 15 at the Royal Albert Hall in London. It is the 100th staging of the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain, and 20 bands get the chance to impress with the new work by Paul Lovatt-Cooper. Among them are the East Yorkshire Motor Services Band and their musical director Alan Morrison, who qualified from the North of England area contest in Darlington last March. They will be up against formidable opposition in the shape of current national champions Brighouse & Rastrick and their conductor Professor David King, plus the likes of Carlton Main, Virtuosi GUS, Fodens, and Fairey - plus Cory, and Tredegar of Wales and Scottish representative Whitburn.  

EYMS, the North of England champions four times since 1996, and regular competitors at the Royal Albert Hall, began rehearsing Breath of Souls in September – a piece commissioned by Weyland and Yvonne Roberts, former teachers and long-time followers of the Black Dyke Band. In essence, the music is about nature's capacity to grow and rebuild regardless of its other catastrophic powers. After tsunami, forest fires, earthquakes and volcanic disasters around the world, animals, plant life and humans have overcome adversity and demonstrated a unique regenerative quality. Lovatt-Cooper, known in banding circles as PLC, and Black Dyke’s composer in residence, said on his website: “With Breath of Souls I wanted to compose a piece of music that was a celebration of life. Not only that, but a piece of music that from the very first notes heard in the percussion and cornets, is bustling with activity, emulating that in life everything that is living has a soul and breathes - nothing stays still and everything keeps moving and growing. Just like life itself, Breath of Souls also grows musically with each bar. You will hear many and various motifs and ideas grow and develop as the piece progresses”.  It contains three linked sections, fast/slow/fast, that provide a challenge for both players and conductors. The work has lots of energy and excitement along with some beautiful, melodic lines audiences can enjoy. 

Although Black Dyke will not be competing at the National Finals, they premiered the piece before invited guests at their Queensbury headquarters near Bradford. Among the first people to enjoy Breath of Souls were Weyland and Yvonne Roberts, and David Read, who will be adjudicating in London, in the company of Belgium’s Luc Vertommen and Rob Wiffen. Lasting 15 minutes, the performance gave an insight into its technical construction as well as musical inspiration as it went along. PLC’s desire to provide a test worthy of the occasion has seen him produce a composition of immense technical difficulty – although he hopes he hasn’t lost his knack of making sure the audience will whistle his trademark big tunes. He revealed :  ”I wanted it to challenge the very best, so it’s not easy.  However, I also wanted it to be a piece that would appeal to listeners too, so I’ve tried to balance the technical challenges with plenty of musicality.” 

It has been described as being as fast as athlete Usain Bolt in full flow at the beginning and especially the end of the piece, whilst there are also a lot of extremely quiet, embroidered and thoughtful passages. There are no mute effects, a definite decision by the composer, and he has provided the competing bands with a choice of cadenzas to feature euphonium, flugel horn, soprano, trombone, EEb tuba, and tenor horn. PLC describes it as his ‘masterstroke’, and it allows each soloist the choice of two cadenzas to perform. The result of which it is hoped will give each performance a unique individual characteristic to reflect the conductor’s own interpretation of the work. Unfortunately for the player, neither cadenza is said by the composer to be more difficult than the other!  

Although October sees the 100^th National, it is not the centenary of the contest. The first National title was competed for in 1900, when Denton Original, directed by Alexander Owen, won on Gems from Sullivan’s Operas No 1. The contest did not take place in the years of the two world wars, making 2011 a rather special occasion in the history of the National, and one in which EYMS are extremely proud to be a part. The Band first took part in the finals of the Championship Section at Kensington in 1996 when Robert Childs guided the band to eighth position on Robert Redhead’s Isaiah 40, which remains the band’s best finish in London. In 2008 the Band finished ninth on Concertino for Brass Band by Kenneth Downie, conducted by Frans Violet of Belgium. EYMS also competed in the finals of 1997 (On Alderley Edge, composer Peter Graham, conductor Robert Childs);  1998 (Between The Moon And Mexico, Philip Sparke,  John Roberts);  1999 (Concerto No 1, Derek Bourgeois, John Roberts); 2001 (Albion, Jan Van der Roost, Gareth Pritchard); 2002 (Masquerade, Philip Wilby, Gareth Pritchard); 2003 (Theme and Eight Variations from the Enigma, Sir Edward Elgar arr Eric Ball, Gareth Pritchard); 2004 (…all the flowers of the mountain, Michael Ball, Gareth Pritchard); 2007 (Music for Battle Creek, Philip Sparke, Jim Davies);  and 2009 (The Torchbearer, Peter Graham, Jason Katsikaris).  

The Band travelled to London on Friday the 14th on a coach provided by our sponsors the East Yorkshire Motor Services Group. An early arrival at our hotel gave the players and supporters the opportunity to have some food and catch up with old friends (and adversaries - both the Rothwell Temperance Band, & Reg Vardy Band  were staying in the same hotel). 

Time for tea - Tony & Kathy Newiss, and Alison Grantham.

Alan Morrison led the Band in a short rehearsal on the Friday evening before a quick night cap and early nights all round. After an early breakfast we returned to the rehearsal venue for an early morning blow - much to the surprise of other groups in the building and local residents! Drawn to play number 6 out of 20, we had the opportunity of a coffee before travelling to the Royal Albert Hall for the performance.

Tony, Alison, Bradley, Graham, Natalie, and Anita gather their instruments and uniforms ready to go into the hall.

Natalie even had time for a little last minute shopping.

After changing and warming up, the Band moved from the changing area to the registration room. This is where the players eligibility to perform is checked - each player has to hold a current registration card and can only be registered with one band. After registration there is a short wait whilst the previous band performs, before we take to the stage.

Time for last minute preparations.

Bill and Alistair - Bill was one of eight players in the Band making their Royal Albert hall debuts today.

The following photographs were taken by Ian Clowes (www.goldysolutions.co.uk) just prior to, and during the Band's performance.

After the performance we all went across to Hyde Park to have some photographs taken by the Albert Memorial, before taking the opportunity to relax and enjoy the rest of the day. 

The Bass Section - Pete Arden, Stephen Gibson, David Fox, and Gareth Hughes.

It was a perfect day.

The alternative view of the Percussion Section - Hugh de la Hoyde, John Modrate, Garry Hallas, and Graham Bates.

Neil Johnson, Melanie Ornsby, John Mathews, and Sam Ringrose - the Euphonium & Baritone Section.

The first timers - Hugh de la Hoyde, Trevor Kendall, Anita Morrison, Sam Ringrose, Natalie Morrison, Bradley Hanson, Garry Hallas, and Bill Ferrier.

Anita, Alan, and Natalie Morrison.

After a long day of contesting Mark Unsworth was despatched back to the Royal Albert Hall to collect the results, and the notes provided by the three adjudicators: -

Luc Vertommen

Opening could have more detailed playing. B good solo horn. 2 bars before C control the balance in the crescendo. 79 detailed. 85 sounds like quavers instead of semi quavers in top lines. 121 needs more control. H very stylish, 148 very controlled. M good technique - nice trombones. N very rich solid band sound. P nice euphonium and freely played. Q the funky part works perfect. Cadenzas - good euphonium & flugel - some minor intonation issues in soprano - very tasteful trombone playing. Page 31 could have more control - huge sound at T. V very musically - nice atmosphere with tasteful cornet playing. X most relaxed and musically played, perfect phrasing. Tuning and dynamics in horn and EEb Bass cadenza not perfect. 366 good overall sound. Finale - good technique - percussion always too loud in this hall. 2 before HH - Sop? Ritard before JJ? JJ  big sounds. A very good performance led my a most musical conductor. Stylish playing. Intonation issues which need attention.

David Read

Lovely restrained opening! B flows well all under control & nothing overdone. K lovely sound from solo cornet - I just feel it is all rather frantic. P well shaped and free. Euphonium cadenza - well done. Flugel cadenza - kicked the first note otherwise well done. Soprano cadenza - well shaped but not without some intonation faults. Trombone cadenza - well done. S some suspect tuning here. U safely played but the tuning concerns me a little. V More passion & expression would help the musical picture. X Solo well restrained & played. Y EEb bass safe, but this cadenza & solo horn lacked for me some contrasts and shapes. AA and onwards all rather careful & lacked flair. FF Intervals not clear. GG Uncertain as we proceed.

Rob Wiffen

Opening alright, the opening technique could have more brilliance. B flowing okay. C not always fully defined in rhythmic shapes. In F your 6/8s are fundamentally too fast. I more clarity in this texture please. K a couple of ugly moments of intonation. M all a little understated and lacking definition. P nicely shaped with a sense of 'freely' - good. Safely to R Euphonium cadenza secure. Flugel cadenza okay. Soprano cadenza intonational suspect. Trombone cadenza secure. Some of the accompaniments under the cadenzas was not too good. S is a little edgy in the cornets. baritones not quite in tune to U. U good. V solo cornet gives the line some shape - good. W flows well. X a good effort. Y EEb Bass - careful of intonation & more dynamics needed. Solo horn not fully convincing. Z good. AA audibly needed much more definition and the solo passages at BB and CC are not forward enough in the texture, nor are they fully secure. EE 6/8s wrong again. GG unlucky soprano. The band makes a good effort at this, but much of the really hard technical work is really at the limits of your ability. There are some clear efforts at musical shape but, overall, the piece needed much greater definition and artistry in the lines. 

In the adjudicators summing up the audience they admitted that whilst they had all agreed on a clear winner, they had difficulty in sorting out the remaining top six places. As can be seen from their comments above, they disagreed between themselves about our performance (opening could have had more detailed playing - lovely restrained opening - opening alright), so our final placing was a little disappointing. However, on paper we were due to have come 19th, and 17th is a three place improvement on our last performance at these championships. The Band overall was pleased with the way we had performed, and we had enjoyed the experience.

The complete results are : -

The prize for the best instrumentalist went to Glen Van Looy (Euphonium) with the Beaumaris Band.

Photographs by Mark Unsworth & Ian Clowes (www.goldysolutions.co.uk).

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