Concert with Treorchy Male Choir, Derby Assembly Rooms. 12 April 2008
review by Graham Jacklin, Musical Director of Leicestershire. Co-Op Band
Put together a Brass Band with a Male Voice Choir and most people would question spending two and a half hours in their company. But when one of the finest entertaining bands in the Midlands, Derwent Brass, invites the world famous Treorchy Male Choir, then there’s something special going to happen. And happen it certainly did, when one thousand people packed into the Assembly Rooms in the heart of Derby to watch and listen to a Brass and Voice spectacle, the quality of which has probably not been seen in the area for some time
‘Entrance of the Peers’. Immediately the band sounded clear and well prepared, and a sympathetic accompaniment made sure of a perfect marriage between the Band and Choir from the start. The programme had been carefully prepared and thought through, with the choir
Compered by Steven Blakeley, aka PC Geoff Younger from ITV’s Heartbeat, the show was already in a safe pair of hands. Introduce the Choir’s guest conductor, Dr Alwyn Humphreys MBE, and the stage was set for the well-known G & S
continuing with their opening selecting of traditional music, including ‘With a Voice of Singing’, The Lord’s Prayer’ and the spiritual ‘Give me that Old Time Religion’. This time accompanied expertly by Helen Roberts BMus (Hons), whose delicate touch on the Piano was certainly an enhancement and not a distraction to the excellent singing.
Derwent Brass opened their traditional selection with the baroque ‘King’s Hunting Jigg’. Expertly navigating the Elgar Howarth arrangement, Keith Leonard, the band’s MD, made light work of this complex piece. They followed with Wilby’s fantastically arranged ‘Great Redeemer’ before the cornet section was put to the test in ‘Hora Staccato’. I say put to the test, not only is it fast and furious, but all eleven members played entirely from memory….not bad eh!
Dr Humphreys took the stage again for the choir’s traditional Welsh spot. Introduced by the choir’s own compere, Dean Powell who took the opportunity to make quip’s at the English residents, with the Welsh Grand Slam still singing ‘A Song in his Heart’. Everything, of course, was taken in the very best humour and the choir sung with their own hearts, the songs of ‘Tydi y Roddaist’, ‘Y Darlun’ and ‘Unwaith E’ton’, the latter which featured Dean in solo verse. A fine Welsh tenor, who filled the Assembly Rooms at Derby with the most splendid sounds.
With a subtle shifting of stage layout, it was left to Derwent Brass to play out the first half with their Big Band set. As tonight was the official release of the bands new CD, Big Band, Big Screen we were in for a treat of entertaining music. ‘Just a Closer Walk’ followed by ‘Hot Toddy’ featured great solo work from the cornet of David Neville, flugel Pam Davies and Martyn Johnson on trombone.
They make it all sound so easy, and so engaging. Mack the Knife’ and Mark Freeh’s flamboyant arrangement of Malaguena finished off a first half that sent most people off to the bar breathless. And not sure if it could be topped by the second half……
Derwent opened the second half with Howard Snell’s timeless arrangement of Shostakovich’s dynamic ‘Folk Festival’. This was followed by one of the highlights of the evening when Derwent Brass met the River Derwent head on, or so it seemed, as they danced their way over Bill Wheelan’s ‘Riverdance’. No bandy legs here tonight, just good solid solo’s and some notable percussion work from the boys at the back (and the front).
The Band’s MD, Keith Leonard, is also a dab hand at arranging as he showed in the following item when he, and the band, were joined by the Treorchy boys in Keith’s own arrangement of Verdi’s ‘Va Pensiero’.
It was then the choir’s turn to take us to ‘A Faraway Place’, before they turned their attention to Karl Jenkin’s ‘Adiemus’. Karl wrote an entire score of nonsense words to be sung to this fine score. That is to say, they are meaningless, but it’s not until you hear them sung at first hand that you realise each word reflects an articulation that gives the music real flavour. Bravo! The choir’s final number in the set took them on an African chant ‘Sinzenina’ before bringing them straight to their homeland to rapturous applause for everyone’s favourite ‘Men of Harlech’.
Now, not many people can boast a rendition of Happy Birthday, sung for them by one of the most famous choirs in the world. But that was exactly what Derwent’s principle cornet player, David Neville, got. And very happy he looked too!
The band’s final selection, this time film music, opened with the march ‘Death or Glory’, as used in ‘Brassed Off’. Even the most popular marches can sound special in the right hands. This was followed by Sandy Smith’s cleaver arrangement of the Laurel and Hardy classic tunes from Way out West in ‘Another Fine Mess’. Soloists Adam Rutter and Rob Stew (the band’s own Laurel and Hardy) pulled off an excellent
‘don’t try this at home’ performance, complete with DJ’s and Bowler hats and a rather large
wooden mallet. They really looked the part, and no padding? The band’s final item was a selection of music from the hit movie Gladiator in which the band lead us on a metaphorical journey to Ancient Rome. Breathtaking!
Treorchy Choir, sporting two Gentlemen in their sixty first season with the choir, yes sixty one years, acknowledging times move on, made their final selection from the modern(ish) composers pen. ‘The oldest Boy Band in the World’, their words not mine, took us through ‘You
Raise Me Up’, ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’, ‘My Way’ and concluded with a magical ‘Nessun Dorma’.
The evening concluded with the new Bride and Groom in perfect harmony again. What more fitting way to end than with the traditional Band and Choir hymn of ‘Morte Christie, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross’, followed by the National Anthem of Wales and, of course, God Save the Queen, lifting the roof off the Assembly Rooms one final time.
Like all good things, they have to come to an end. But, when you leave a concert not knowing if you want to play, sing, conduct or just sit, listen and enjoy, you know you’ve had a good’n. I’ll tell you what. It was great.
The singing and frivolities continued into the early hours as the band and choir descended upon a local pub. Seventy Welshmen singing ‘Swing Low Sweet Chariot’ to their English hosts was a great touch.
