Friday Night is Music Night
On Friday 15th October, Pemberton Old Wigan DW Band performed their inaugural concert in the new series of concerts at the DW Stadium in Wigan. With support from the band's sponsor DW Sports and Fitness the band performed its usually varied programme in the Marquee at the Stadium.
The evening began at 7.30pm with the Youth Band performing a 20-minute programme with pieces from their concert at Ashton Music Festival. As always this was well received by the audience and members of the Senior Band alike.
Following the Youth band was the Senior band's programme which started with a rousing rendition of the Kenneth Alford march "The Thin Red Line". This was followed by the beautifully lyrical Soprano Cornet Solo "La Califfa" played by John Atkinson. This gorgeous melody is from the score to the unsuccessful film "Lady Califf". Following this was the band's tribute to George Formby "Turned Out Nice Again". This was put together for the band for former Eb Bass player, Andrew Myers, and features the songs "Blackpool Rock", "Leaning on a Lamp Post" and "When I'm Cleaning Windows", including lots of singing from the band, and some solo singing from Alec Banks, Dave McGlynn, John Don-Duncan and David Marsh.
The band's second soloist then performed a piece written by a former conductor of the band, William Rimmer, in the difficult cornet solo "Hailstorm" ably performed by the band's principal cornet Joanne Johnson. Following this was a reprise of the "Pizziwato Polka" that the band played at the Wychavon Contest almost a month ago. A change of pace and style then led to another Wychavon item, "Jewish Wedding Dance", displaying the band's technical virtuosity. The first half then concluded with "MacArthur Park", which has become one of the staple items on the band's concert programmes.
After a short interval, the band kicked off the second half with a lively romp through the latin number "Tico Tico", which featured various sections of the band. Following this was the Agustin Lara work "Granada", in which the band's bass trombonist kept interrupting and was eventually kicked off stage! At the end of the piece the conductor, Mark Bentham, decided that he was a bit harsh on Jason Nowell and so let him play a solo - even with a pint of lager on stage! Jason played "Show Me the Way to Go Home" and with many comedic moments the piece was a huge hit with the audience (and the band!)
Following this was "Bohemian Rhapsody" which again featured the band's vocal skills, opening with unaccompanied lady voices which are joined by the men, singing in harmony. After over a minute of singing, the band then begins playing through the Darrol Barry arrangment, with some additional sung moments in the middle and at the end of the piece. The band followed this with the lively, cheerful Harold Arlen number "Get Happy", before concluding the concert with "Symphonic Dances from West Side Story". This substantial work is a real test for the band, but especially at the end of a concert programme. The band coped very well and were encouraged by the audience to do an encore and chose "You Are My Sunshine" which is a song sung by Wigan Football and Rigby fans, and again included some singing from the band.
St Michael's Church, Swinley
The following evening the band were in concert action again, at our annual Swinley concert, in front of one the most appreciative audiences we perform to. We began in the same manner as the night before with the march "The Thin Red Line" followed by the Soprano Cornet Solo "La Califfa", featuring John Atkinson. Following this was the "Introduction to Act III of Lohengrin" by Wagner, a rousing work which displayed the band's sound and technical skill. Joanne Johnson then reprised her version of "Hailstorm" by William Rimmer, before another performance of "Pizziwato Polka" and "Jewish Wedding Dance" from the Wychavin programme. This first half then finished again with "MacArthur Park".
This time there was a thirty minute interval while members of the audience enjoyed some cheese and wine before the band returned to play the "Symphonic Dances from West Side Story" which was even better than the night before! The final soloist of the evening was Carina Halliwell in a superb rendition of the Chuck Mangione latin solo "Children of Sanchez" from the film of the same name. The Latin American theme continued with another rendition of "Tico Tico". The band then reprised "Bohemian Rhapsody" with the same vocal skills as the evening before.
To conclude the band then played through the "Last Night of the Proms" set as is typical for many concerts at this time of year. First, "Fantasia on British Sea Songs" by Sir Henry Wood, followed by Hubert Parry's "Jerusalem". The final item of the night was "Pomp and Circumstance No. 1" by Edward Elgar, which ofcourse features the song 'Land of Hope and Glory'. The audience sang their hearts out through all of these pieces, and so we finished with a blow through the 'Land of Hope and Glory' section of "Pomp and Circumstance No. 1".
The Band's Busy Schedule Continues
On Sunday 17th October, the band were back in the band room to begin its week-long rehearsal schedule for the 'Pontin's Brass Band Championships' at Pontins, Prestatyn next Sunday (24th October). The band will be rehearsing every night, except Thursday, on the set test piece "Les Preludes" by Franz Liszt arranged by Bram Gay, which was the test piece at the British Open in 2001. The piece is a real test for the band's soloists, particular for Soprano, Cornet, Flugel and Horn, with some very exposed sections for the soloists.
At the same time the 'B' Band are rehearsing for the third section of the same contest, which will take place on the Saturday (23rd October), where the band will be playing Philip Wilby's "Partita for Band - Postcards from Home". This piece is a depiction of Wilby's childhood memories of growing up in Yorkshire, which comes in four movements, 'Towers and Chimneys'; 'Churches: Lord of the Dance'; 'Pastorale: Sunday Afternoon'; 'Coronation Day Parade'.
The next blog update will be after the contest next week, where hopefully we will be reporting on a sucessful weekend on the contest platform!
