Sunday Night Brass
Arguably the star of Sunday Night Brass, featuring King's Park Brass and their special guests Glasgow Youth Choir, was the venue itself; St Andrews in the Square.
This de-consecrated church with its high vaulted ceilings and wonderful acoustics created a literally heavenly experience for the audience at the band's second concert in this venue.
The evening began with the rousing Fanfare and Flourishes, an attention commanding opening. The next piece, Faure's Pavane, with its repetitive, tightly knit structure ideally suited to the dance of the same name, was a much mellower, quieter experience. This slower tempo was continued in Vivaldi's Winter, which featured the horn section of the band in a very controlled, sustained and melodic depiction of the season.
The band's opening section concluded with Variations on Laudate Dominum. Here the players excelled themselves. This challenging piece for all sections was emotionally uplifting, and the superb acoustics enhanced what was a truly exhilarating and memorable experience for both musicians and audience.
In the second section of the first half, the Glasgow Youth Choir, under the direction of their conductor Audrey McKirdy, provided a wonderful contrast to the brass band. These young women sang with angelic voices and great musicality a varied programme of songs. In keeping with the Easter timeframe, they began with the magnificent Hallelujah Chorus by Handel, and an unusual rendition of The Lord's Prayer, music by Malotte. The simple For the Beauty of the Earth and the Hebrew love song Kalla Kala continued the religious theme. The choir ended this section with Music Down in my Soul, arranged by Moses Hagan. This gospel praise song was inspired by the spiritual Over my Head, and, together with the dynamic keyboard accompaniment, made a fantastic closure to the first half of the concert.
After the interval the choir presented the audience with a series of songs from the shows. They began with an amusing rendition of Henry Mancini's The Pink Panther from the film of the same name. In contrast, The Rose, made famous by Bette Midler introduced a quieter, more serious mood, enhanced by some beautiful harmonies from the choir, while Gershwin's Porgy and Bess introduced the nostalgic and lyrical Summertime.
Next came two songs from the much more recent musical, Wicked, the prequel to The Wizard of Oz. The first, One Short Day takes place near the start of the show when the two witches Glinda and Elphaba first go to the Emerald City to meet the wizard. The second, For Good, is sung as a duet between the witches as a final farewell to each other. It is the climax and one of the most well-known songs of the show.
The choir's final contribution in this section was the catchy and upbeat Rhythm of Life from the musical Sweet Charity, demonstrating once more the vocal virtuosity which had been the hallmark of Glasgow Youth Choir's performance throughout the evening.
The finale to this fabulous evening of music and song saw the choir and the band unite in Cry of the Celts written by Irish composer Ronan Hardiman and arranged by Peter Graham. This work, from Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance, is a five piece suite of Celtic folk music. The band began with the rhythmic, pulsating and discordant Nightmare, but this was immediately tempered by the haunting and moving Suil a Ruin, beautifully enhanced by the delightful singing of the girls. The final pieces increased the tempo, beginning with the exciting Breakout and culminating in the triumphant Lord of the Dance.
Thus ended an extremely successful and enjoyable evening for both musicians and audience.
28/4/10
