Birmingham Symphonc Winds
In the last three years I have reviewed three superb choral ensembles brought to New York by Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY.) The high standards of DCINY were again reflected in this performance by the Birmingham Symphonic Winds (BSW). Founded in 1992 by conductor Keith Allen, this forty-five member English group was begun to “meet the demands of players in the area to perform with a high quality wind ensemble.” And one couldn’t ask for higher quality playing. From beginning to end, this very youthful ensemble played with perfect intonation and beautiful blend. The conducting of maestro Keith Allen was unobtrusive and precise. And his comments between movements created a warm bond with the very enthusiastic audience.
Titled “Atlantic Crossing,” the concert featured eleven works by British and American composers. It opened with a rousing performance of “Second City Ceremony” by Phillip Sparke, the title alluding to Birmingham’s relationship to London, England’s “first city.” Designed as a concert-opener, this work was one the five BSW commissions we heard this afternoon. Upon hearing the fortissimo opening fanfare, I worried that the sound produced by the ensemble at full throttle was too loud for Tully Hall. And although this feeling returned once or twice during the concert, these loud sounds were never harsh or even edgy. They were unforced and viscerally exciting, if at times a bit too much for this listener’s ears
Another commission followed, Nigel Hess’s “Shakespeare Pictures.” The first movement used the same jazzy language we heard in “Second City Ceremony,” the second featured lovely playing by the solo woodwinds, while the third juxtaposed perfectly blended sounds by the brass and woodwind choirs, something which we would hear throughout the afternoon. “Prelude from 49th Parallel,” part of an orchestral film score written in 1941 by Ralph Vaughan Williams, was then performed in a transcription for band by Leroy Osmon. During this work I found the BWS’s playing to be wonderfully expressive.
Although a bit more dissonant than the works by Sparke and Hess which preceded it, Guy Woolfenden’s “Divertimento for Band” featured more of the same jazzy language and, in the last movement, a similarly easy-listening-melody. Emma Stockdale’s second movement flute solo was quite beautiful. Mr. Sparke’s “A Weekend in New York” then called on all the big-city clichés, including bent minor thirds. I found the performance a bit stiff, especially the sections which should swing.
A fourth BSW commission ended the concert’s first half, and what an ending it was! Martin Ellerby’s “The Canticle of the Sun”, a work for solo percussion and concert band composed in 2006, was written for this afternoon’s soloist, Simone Rebello. While a piano soloist sits at a keyboard and a violinist stands in one spot, Ms. Rebello moved between the many instruments which stretched from one side of the stage to the other. She used a violin bow on the vibraphone, she expressively played chords on the marimba using four mallets, she perfectly executed very rapid scales on the xylophone, she played drums, cymbals and crotales. It was a pleasure to listen to and a thrill to watch.
The oldest work on the concert began the second half, a transcription for wind orchestra (sic!) of “Jupiter” from “The Planets” by Gustav Holst. Although it was composed almost one-hundred years ago, it seemed to me that many of the more contemporary works heard on the first half of this concert, save for being a bit more dissonant, utilized a similar musical language. Next we heard two movements from another work with soloist, Karl Jenkins’s “Euphonium Concerto,” featuring David Childs. I have a soft spot for the euphonium, having always marveled at its ability to sound like singing. And that’s just what Mr. Childs accomplished during his performance of the Romanza as his expressive phrasing was the kind that you would hear in song performed by a great baritone. And yes, in the last movement we heard him play at a speed that even a trumpet player would have difficulty reaching. The audience marveled at this display, but I found the rapid line to be blurry. This was not the performer’s fault – it’s the physics of a very long tube.
After the concert’s first American work and another BWS commission, the regular program concluded with John Philip Sousa’s “Humoresque on Swanee.” These humorous variations on George Gershwin’s first big hit, followed by an encore, Gershwin’s “Strike up the Band,” brought this wonderful concert to a rip-roaring happy conclusion.
