Great NYBBS Concert in Cumnock
This is a Review from The Hearld, our thanks to them for the report 'The Future of Brass' concert
Cumnock Old Church, Cumnock
Rebecca McQuillan
CUMNOCK in East Ayrshire is steeped in the brass band tradition. Introducing The Future of Brass, part of the new Cumnock Tryst classical music festival he has founded, composer James Macmillan, who grew up in Cumnock, recalled how his grandfather, a coal miner and euphonium player, set the young James on his lifelong musical journey by getting him his first cornet.
Saturday's programme, performed by the National Youth Brass Band of Scotland, also featured young musicians from Cumnock Academy Brass and Greenmill Primary String Orchestra. The repertoire was a showcase of both brass's great emotional range and the impressive technical skills of the young musicians performing it.
Intrada from Ein Fest Burg, arranged by Ray Farr, got things off to a lively start, building to a momentous, blousy crescendo. Other early highlights included Vaughan Williams' Tuba Concerto performed by special guest, Norwegian Eirik Gjerdevik, who, at over 6ft and powerfully built, is one of few musicians who could make the mighty tuba look human-sized. His soulful playing, hitting the rumbling depths of brass's range, was a delight.
James Macmillan's composition, Jebel (meaning "hill") came next. Wonderfully dramatic and unpredictable, it sounded like a struggle to the death on the summit.
Macmillan's animate and evocative Playing the Skyline, meanwhile, inspired by how last year's Greenmill P7 class felt their local landscape should be brought to life music, was performed in part by this year's P7s.
John Ireland's Elegy from The Downland Suite, an uplifting, tranquil classic, was followed by the three-part Balkan Suite, which at certain moments brought the vibe of a Seventies cop show to Cumnock Old Church with its lively drumbeats and energetic instrumentation. Just before Elsa's Procession to the Minster by Wagner, a suitably big conclusion, the audience were treated to an unexpected and moving musical palate cleanser, Gjerdevik playing Gabriel's Oboe by Ennio Morricone, accompanied by the NYBBS.
A varied, satisfying evening that left brass fans replete.
