In Town TonightIn Town Tonight

Saturday 27 November 2004

Marston Road United Reform Church, Oxford

The wind orchestra, or concert band, has evolved over several centuries from the small wind bands used for military music and outdoor entertainment. What we would recognise as today's wind band came to life in the nineteenth century when instrument makers invented new instruments and new sizes of existing instruments to give bands full treble-to-bass ranges of single-reed, double-reed and brass families. Many of those instruments are now footnotes in history (sarrusophones and ophicleides, for example) but the survivors - saxophones of all sizes, alto and bass clarinets, euphoniums and tubas have found a permanent place in today's concert bands.

Because there weren't full-size wind bands in Handel's day, outdoor music like the music for the Royal Fireworks simply used lots of the instruments then available - mainly oboes, bassoons and horns. The music was written in pretty much the same way for strings or winds. Our Handel Passacaglia is, in fact, arranged from a keyboard piece. Even when full bands became the accepted norm, it was customary to arrange most of the music for them from other sources - opera, symphonic music, keyboard and choral works have all been ransacked for suitable pieces. Nowadays, of course, there are many composers writing specifically for wind ensembles and tonight's programme mostly features this type of music. But there are many fine arrangements of music that are good to play and to listen to, so we include a selection of these, too.

Beyond all the pieces having English origins, there is no particular theme to tonight's concert but it is a showcase, and comparison, of original wind pieces and arrangements. In Guy Woolfenden's Gordian Knots the clarinet choir format contrasts nicely with the full-band sound. However, the range of tone colours in the fullband pieces is hardly less impressive, and the sound of the Abingdon Concert Band in full cry will surely be an aural feast. Coates' London Suite gives the first half a rousing end, and the Knightsbridge March from it gives us the title for the concert - 'In Town Tonight' being the radio programme it introduced for many years. We end the concert with another march, this time unashamedly part of a 'best of Elgar' selection.

Passacaglia in G minor – GEORGE FREDERIC HANDEL arr. Ivan Phillips
Suite in Eb for Military Band – GUSTAV HOLST
Rhapsody on an English Sea Song – STUART JOHNSON
Serenade, op. 22c – DEREK BOURGEOIS
London Every Day – ERIC COATES
Gordian Knots (for Clarinet Choir) – GUY WOOLFENDEN
English Suite – CLARE GRUNDMAN
Emerald Breeze – MALCOLM BINNEY
Salut d'amour (Love's Greeting) – EDWARD ELGAR
Enigma Variations – EDWARD ELGAR
Pomp & Circumstance, no. 4 – EDWARD ELGAR

 

Entente CordialeEntente Cordiale

Saturday 5 June 2004

Kennington Village Hall, Nr. Oxford

Despite a long history of opposition, France and England are now tied together more closely than ever before. The shared suffering of two world wars and the channel tunnel underline the truism that although each country has a totally different outlook on life, we still have much in common.

'Entente Cordiale' celebrates the diversity of French and English culture with a selection of music composed, arranged and loved on both sides of the channel.

Formidable!

The Earle of Oxford's Marche – WILLIAM BYRD (1539?–1623)
Suite fran็aise – DARIUS MILHAUD (1892–1974)
Pavane – GABRIEL FAURษ (1845–1924)
Suite in F for Military Band – GUSTAV HOLST (1874–1934)
March from 'A Little Suite' – Sir MALCOLM ARNOLD (b. 1921) arr. PETER SUMNER
The Music of James Bond – arr. JAY BOCOO
The Girl with flaxen hair (La fille aux cheveux de lin) – CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862–1918)
Danse macabre – CAMILE SAINT-SAหNS (1835–1921)
Enigma Variations – Sir EDWARD ELGAR (1857–1934)

 

GallimaufryGallimaufry

Saturday 27 March 2004

St Michael's Church, Abingdon

Gallimaufry /gali'mo:fri/ n. (pl. –ies) a heterogeneous mixture; a jumble or medley. [French galimafr้e, of unknown origin]

Stage Centre – GOFF RICHARDS (b. 1944)
Andante Cantabile – PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–1893)
Serenade Op.44 – ANTONIN DVORมK (1841–1904)
Singin' in the Rain – NACIO HERB BROWN (1896–1964)
Prelude, Siciliano & Rondo – Sir MALCOLM ARNOLD (b. 1921)
On the Quarterdeck – KENNETH ALFORD (1881–1945)
Sandpaper Ballet – LEROY ANDERSON (1908–1975)
The Grasshoppers' – Dance ERNEST BUCALOSSI (1859–1933)
Suite fran็aise – DARIUS MILHAUD (1892–1974)
Il postino – LUIS BACALOV (b. 1933)
Gallimaufry – GUY WOOLFENDEN (b. 1937)