Review | JRNCM and Macclesfield Youth Bands at RNCM International Brass Band Festival

Young Stars Shine at the RNCM International Brass Band Festival

Alongside watching some of the brass band world's top ensembles, the RNCM International Brass Band Festival offered the opportunity to watch the bright young stars who will form the firmament of the next generation of brass banding. It was great to see the RNCM Theatre packed out to support these fine young musicians who had clearly worked incredibly hard to deliver their high-calibre performances. 

JRNCM Youth Brass Band

It was the Junior RNCM (JRNCM) who were first to perform, taking to the stage on Saturday afternoon under the baton of Mark Bousie. Tackling repertoire from Elgar Howarth and Edward Gregson the band demonstrated musical maturity and blossoming technical skill that was incredibly impressive. Alongside established works from well-known composers, the band also showcased pieces from the pens of young composers, which were incredibly engaging. This performance felt like a glimpse into the future of banding. 

Jubilee by Paul Drury

Written to celebrate the centenery of the Edinburgh Gorgie Band in 1998, ‘Jubilee’ is an upbeat march that features all the pomp of the infamous marches aof yesteryear. The piece contains quotes from the salvation army songs: Be Glad in the Lord, I Love Him Better Every Day, and Bound for Canaan’s Shore. 

What a sound this band can make! The JRNCM showed us exactly what they were made of from the first note; it was an opening performance that was packed with energy and was rhythmically tight. 

Clash of the Titans by Tamsin Crook

A world premiere from the pen of a young composer was up next and what a piece it was! This is an exhilarating adventure of a piece with bold dynamics and technical tests and a cinematic feel. Clash of the Titans offers an engaging introduction into longer, test piece-style works for young players. If this is the future of writing for brass band, I am excited. 

A Little Hymn by Simon Dobson

Simon Dobson is a composer known for his adrenaline-filled, pyrotechnic major works, but this piece showcased his more lyrical and delicate writing. Little Hymn was written to provide an alternative to the traditional hymn tune settings that make up one of the key foundations of brass band repertoire. The piece begins with the main melody of the work performed by a quartet comprised of flugel, horn, baritone and euphonium. The fabulous four musicians displayed outstanding musicianship, opening the piece without the need of a conductor and their four sounds blended together beautifully. Future superstars for sure!

Hogarth’s Hoedown and Berne Patrol by Elgar Howarth

Proof that Howarth’s work, even his lighter pieces, stand the test of time and it’s great to see the next generation of musicians exploring his music.

Berne Patrol is an arrangement of a piece that began life as a piece of brass chamber music for the Philip Jones Brass ensemble, of which Howard was a founder member. The collection that featured this piece also featured a work called The Old Chalet - which we were introduced to in Brighouse’s programme later on in the weekend. 

The piece is a traditional Swiss tune which representa a typical Swiss band marching through a village and disappearing back into the Alps. This piece prominently features the snare drum, which starts and ends the piece in an unaccompanied solo and this was handled with controlled, poise - absolutely outstanding, so shout out to that incredible young musician!

Written under the pseudonym, W. Hogarth Lear, which Howard used for some of his smaller, light-hearted works and dedicated to his children, Hogarth’s Hoedown is a Copland-esque lively western barn dance. It was a performance that was full of fun. Shout out to the percussionist responsible for the washboard, excellent work!

Sailor’s Hymn: Blue Peter, Flying in the Harbour by Amber Hooton

Another work from the pen of a young female composer, which is fantastic to see in a programme and fantastic to hear! Another brilliant work from the pen of a young composer. I really enjoyed this and I think it makes a great addition to any concert programme, but especially for younger musicians, as it’s very engaging. There were some really gorgeous melodic moments in this. 

I hope to see both of the new works featured in this programme in circulation in band programmes this year!

Macclesfield Youth Brass Band

Macclesfield Youth Brass Band took to the stage on Sunday afternoon in a performance that would celebrate their 20th anniversary - they certainly brought the party! The Macclesfield Youth Band organisation is run by volunteers and supports the musical development of over 120 members from complete beginners to advanced musicians and my goodness. I have to say the standard of playing we saw on Sunday afternoon was astoundingly good and a credit to all of the hardworking individuals involved in the organisation. 

Star Lake by Eric Ball

The band opened their programme with Eric Ball’s classic, upbeat march, Star Lake. It’s a piece that most of us are familiar with and for good reason, it’s such a light-hearted, jaunty march that makes a great concert opener and the band delivered it with bags of style and great rhythmic control all the way through. 

Blue by Thomas Gansch, arr. by John Doyle

We then moved on to the part of the programme I was excited for most. Frequent readers you already know my love for Thomas Gansch’s Blue, arranged by John Doyle. It’s an awesome, jazzy number featuring a septet of soloists that carry the piece and a virtuosic lead trumpet part. For context, John Doyle arranged this for the Leyland Band for their 2014 Brass in Concert performance where Mark Harrison (who is a a professional trumpet player) performed the lead part. So, as you can imagine - it’s not an easy piece at all. 

When I tell you my jaw was on the floor throughout this entire performance - the TALENT of the band’s soloists, particularly the band’s principal cornet, Luke, who took on the lead trumpet part. It wasn’t just the technical acrobatics that is required to deliver the lead solo line, but the level of style and musicality it needs for it to be effective and Luke delivered it with confident technique and bags of panache. The other six soloists, equally delivered their solo lines with fantastic style and they all looked like they enjoyed every moment of this piece - as did I. I may have been a bit teary at the end - it was just so good and to see such young players perform with such professionalism and incredible talent was awe-inspring. 

One of my favourite moments of the entire festival. 

The Water of Tyne, Traditional, arr. By Philip Harper

We had a little moment of calm with Philip Harper’s arrangement of The Water of Tyne. This is a lovely, lilting piece with a gorgeously warm melody line delivered by the solo euphonium and glittering upper band. The piece offered the band a chance to demonstrate their more emotive side to their playing and it was beautiful with careful dynamic control and excellent phrasing. 

Grandfather’s Clock, Traditional arr. By George Doughty

A classic solo was next on the programme with a surprise guest soloist. Unfortunately, the band’s usual solo euphonium had suffered an injury which meant he was unable to perform at the festival, so it was up to Chris Robertson, Solo Euphonium with the Brighouse and Rastrick Band to take up the mantle. Now, Chris’ virtuosity as a soloist is well known in the banding world, so as you can imagine, he didn’t make it an easy job for the band to keep up - but they did! 

Fanfares, Songs and Dances by Philip Sparke

This new work from the pen of Philip Sparke was commissioned by Brass Bands England, the Lithuanian Brass Band Association and the Dutch National Brass Band Championships and will be featured as the set test piece at this year’s National Youth Brass Band Championships of Great Britain. This is a fantastic test piece that offers a great opportunity for youngsters who may not have had the chance to perform a test piece before. 

As the title suggests, the work opens with an exciting fanfare movement with bold dynamics and plenty of pomp and circumstance, before we move into a more sensitive and delicate movement with plenty of opportunity for the band’s soloists to shine, before heading into a lively, celebratory dance movement to finish. 

The piece, although written with less experienced players in mind, is not easy and was handled with precision and control within the more technical fanfare and dance sections and emotive lyricism within the songs. 

All in all Macclesfield Youth Band’s performance was musically mature and the standard of the ensemble in exceptional and a real testament to the passion of these young musicians and the hard work of the band’s musical director, Louise Renshaw and the individuals involved in running this fantastic organisation. 

Congratulations on twenty years of music - here’s to many more to come!