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'Double Champions'
- The Washington Post, J P Sousa, arr. C W Hewitt - Dance of the Tumblers, Rimsky-Korsakov, arr D Ashmore - Hymn for Diana, Joseph Turrin - Gaelforce, Peter Graham - Shepherd’s Song, Goff Richards - Rhapsody for Euphonium and Band, Edward Gregson (Soloist: Ceri John) - The Padstow Lifeboat, Malcolm Arnold - Men Of Harlech, Gordon Langford - All Through The Night, Gordon Langford - Fantasia on Tico Tico, Derek Bourgeois - There’s No Business Like Show Business, I Berlin, arr. G Richards - Memory from ‘Cats’, A Lloyd Webber, arr. A Catherall (Soloist: Jayne Thomas) - Ol’ Man River, Mark Freeh (Soloist: Emyr Rees) |
Burry Port Town Band are proud to bring you this recording which is their third to date. It has been produced in response to much public demand and also to celebrate the most successful period in the band’s history. Winning the ‘Champion Band of Wales 2001’ trophy and the National Eisteddfod 2002 Championship Section crown is a tremendous achievement for any brass band but is made more remarkable by the fact that Burry Port have only been competing in the National championship section since January 2000!
The music selected for this recording has been part of the band’s repertoire during 2001 and 2002. Marches are the traditional concert openers and who better than ‘The March King’ Sousa to provide us with his famous The Washington Post. From the USA to Russia - Rimsky-Korsakov’s chilly opera ‘The Snow Maiden’ sets the scene for this energetic number the death defying Dance of the Tumblers. This was also the first piece in Burry Port Band’s prizewinning Eisteddfod programme. The next two pieces are also taken from that same line-up: Joseph Turrin’s beautiful Hymn for Diana a moving tribute to the late Princess of Wales; and Gaelforce Peter Graham’s homage to Irish folk music featuring three traditional folk tunes: The Rocky Road to Dublin, The Minstrel Boy (featuring Mark Smith on flugel horn) and Tossing the Feathers. The Shepherd’s Song is taken from Canteloube’s Chants d’Auvergne (Songs of the Auvergne) and has been exquisitely arranged by Goff Richards to feature principal cornet Roger Boyle and euphonium Paul Evans.
Principal euphonium Ceri John has made a name for himself as a first class exponent on that instrument. He has played with top bands Black Dyke Mills, Yorkshire Building Society and Yorkshire Imps to great acclaim. Now back in his native town he works as a peripatetic brass teacher for the Carmarthenshire Music Service. Edward Gregson’s Symphonic Rhapsody for Euphonium and Band was written very early on in the composer’s career and is very lyrical in design thus providing Ceri with a useful vehicle for displaying his beautiful tone.
Malcolm Arnold spent many years as a professional trumpet player before devoting himself entirely to composition. He has an enduring love of brass and a real affection for brass bands. The Padstow Lifeboat is one of his original compositions for brass band and was written in honour of the local lifeboat and to mark the naming of a new boat. The march is in A flat while the foghorn remains obstinately in D (the approximate pitch of the foghorn at nearby Trevose lighthouse).
Burry Port Town Band is proud of its welsh heritage and promotes welsh music both at home and away. Gordon Langford’s brilliant arrangements of Men Of Harlech and Ar Hyd Y Nos (All Through The Night are two examples from the band’s extensive celtic repertoire.
With a life that spanned more than 100 years and a catalogue that boasted over 1000 songs, Irving Berlin epitomized Jerome Kern's famous maxim that "Irving Berlin has no place in American music -- he is American music." Indeed, his There’s No Business Like Show Business is a wonderful number to kick off a showbiz finale to this recording: Memory from ‘Cats’ arranged by Alan Catherall as a soprano cornet solo beautifully played by Jayne Thomas; and Jerome Kern’s Ol’ Man River from Show Boat in a tremendous arrangement by Mark Freeh featuring Emyr Rees on kit.
Producer: Keith Farrington
Sound Engineer, Digital Editing & Mastering: Mike Moor
Recorded at Pembrey Community Hall on 25,26 & 27 October 2002
Layout & Typesetting: D. R. Graphics
Front Cover Design: Simion Baxter-Cox