John Rutter, Britain’s most successful contemporary choral composer, has written most of his sacred music to commission, and for use in church services. Composed for his first American tour, Gloria was also his first great international success, combining an ethereal quality with moments of exhilaration. Two other popular works are also represented: Pie Jesu from the Requiem, and This is the Day, composed for the wedding of HRH Prince William and Kate Middleton in 2011. John Rutter’s music is eclectic and shows influences of the French and English choral traditions of the early 20th century as well as influences from light music and American classic songwriting. Almost every choral anthem and hymn has an orchestral accompaniment in a more colourful form in addition to the standard organ or piano accompaniment. This new release coincides with the composer’s 75th birthday in24 September 2020 – a perfect moment to celebrate one of Britain’s most successful and internationally well-known composers of choral music.

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REVIEWS:

Rutter’s particular brand of polyphony, bright and optimistic yet surprisingly dense, offers many possibilities, and it is likely that even listeners not particularly enamored of Rutter will appreciate the artistry here. The lion’s share of that artistry comes from the Black Dyke Band, the preeminent member of the shrinking group of British brass bands. There are plenty of popular Rutter pieces here, including This Is the Day, composed for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in 2011. The Black Dyke Band ends with a collaboration on Rutter’s first big hit, the Gloria (1974), deploying the ideal Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus.

– AllMusicGuide.com (James Manheim)

Two musical pillars of Christmas in the UK are John Rutter and Salvation Army silver bands. While, with one exception, there are neither John Rutter carols here nor a Salvation Army silver band, we do have a disc devoted to the music of Rutter most of which is performed by one of Britain’s most famous (and finest) bands in arrangements by Luc Vertommen. And, as such, it seems to ooze Christmas, even there is only one item—What Sweeter Music—which has a direct Christmas connection.

The Black Dyke Band under their conductor, Nicholas Childs, plays everything with supreme polish and sensitivity, and exudes a silky smooth warmth and affection. Of particular beauty is their take on The Lord Bless You and Keep You, which has such a velvety softness that it seems almost to breathe with a human voice. Also exuding a truly almost vocal style of delivery is the delightfully creamy cornet of Richard Marshall, in the Pie Jesu. I am not so sure otherwise about this arrangement, with a tinkling glockenspiel adding a slight whiff of the fairground. Indeed, on the whole, Luc Vertommen’s arrangements have a slightly over-orchestrated feel, with his version of All Things Bright and Beautiful really far too fussy and action-packed to match the simple beauty of Rutter’s original. I suspect that without a band of such superlative control to play them, these arrangements would not work anything like as effectively as they do. However, they do work magnificently in this context, and while they hardly stretch the band and have, inevitably, a certain samey quality, the luxury of the playing ensures that the novelty of Rutter on brass never wears too thin. The one exception is Distant Land (A Prayer for Freedom) which takes on a decidedly Copland-esque feel in this instrumental-only arrangement.

Scored for choir, organ, brass and percussion, the Gloria of 1974 is so strongly redolent of Walton that it is sometimes difficult to spot anything distinctive in the music, especially given this performance in which Darius Battiwala is so keen to convey the mood of celebration and festivity that the moments of repose are largely swept away by the sheer exuberance of the music-making. One senses that the church in which this recording was made was possibly a little too small to accommodate such musical enthusiasm, and certainly the men of the Sheffield Philharmonic Choir seem to have pretty much tired themselves out by the time we reach the final Amen. But what the choral singing lacks in polish, is more than amply compensated for by the sheer joie-de-vivre of the performance and the sparkling majesty of the Black Dyke Band.

– MusicWeb International

The euphonium played a key part in the brass band movement of the mid-19th century due to it's playability, affordability and ease of mass production. The historical lack of original compositions for euphonium was made up for with a wide variety of transcriptions. Virtuoso embraces this heritage in a celebration of the instrument's unique depth and versatility. The renowned virtuoso, David Childs, is united with the legendary Black Dyke Band in a collection of classical and contemporary repertoire that ranges from much-loved traditional songs to dazzling showpieces.

Following on from the critically acclaimed Anthems, Hymns and Gloria (8.574130) released in 2020, Nicholas Childs and the Black Dyke Band return to the music of John Rutter with this album of Christmas carols arranged for brass. The Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus is also featured on O Clap Your Hands, Nativity Carol and Te Deum. Includes twelve world premiere recordings.

I can see significant interest and many converts to brass band music being generated by this disc from the Black Dyke Band.

This Naxos release consists of eleven popular works in arrangements for brass band. I hope that it heralds a continuing Brass Band Classics series. Here the term ‘arrangement’ is used in its broadest sense, not differentiating between those scores that strive to stay faithful to the original in the way of a transcription and those that make freer use of the material. Eight different arrangers, mainly celebrated figures in the brass band movement, have been at work here. Notable is Alan Fernie, a Royal Academy of Music student who is represented by four separate pieces.

The compass of brass band music has been significantly augmented by this activity. In addition to original brass band works it was in the 1930s that the fashion developed for making popular works of the standard repertoire available for brass bands to play. Around the mid-twentieth-century the popularly of banding was given the strongest possible advocacy when distinguished conductors, knights, Malcolm Sargent; Adrian Boult and John Barbirolli all directed concerts of massed brass bands.

The performers here are the Black Dyke Band, formerly the Black Dyke Mills Band, under their Principal Conductor and Director of Music, Nicholas Childs. Arguably the best known brass band on the world stage the Black Dyke Band has been voted ‘Champion Band of Great Britain’ on twenty occasions as well as receiving a large number of other prestigious awards. From Queensbury, Bradford the Black Dyke Band were founded over one hundred and fifty years ago in a town where a tradition of brass band music can be traced back to 1816.

Instantly recognisable to virtually all listeners is the opening work, the magnificent Grand March from Verdi’s opera Aida. This stunning arrangement by Alan Fernie seems especially suited to the martial, fanfare-like quality of the considerable brass elements that Verdi designed in his score. Black Dyke impress and entertain and the solo passage between 2:01-2:41 is especially effective.

Brahms composed his Academic Festival Overture (1880) to thank the University of Breslau for conferring on him an honorary doctorate. The composer caused a stir amongst the University hierarchy by including several popular melodies from student drinking songs and this 1936 brass arrangement by Denis Wright highlights them to great effect.

Bizet is represented by three scores. The first is Goff Richards’s brass arrangement of Au fond du temple saint (Deep inside the sacred temple) universally known as the Pearl Fisher Duet from the 1863 opera The Pearl Fishers. I was bowled over by the beautiful rich timbre of Black Dyke’s two euphonium soloists David Thornton and John French in this splendid Pearl Fisher Duet that has been polled more than once as the nation's favourite tune.

Bizet’s 1875 opera Carmen is an acknowledged masterpiece. Here Alan Fernie has arranged five popular extracts into a well designed and contrasting suite for brass containing the essence of Spain. I especially enjoyed the confident swagger given to the portrayal of the bullfighter’s life by Black Dyke in the colourful Toreador’s Song.

Howard Lorriman has made a brass arrangement of the Farandole from the Second Suite from Bizet’s 1872 incidental music to Alphonse Daudet’s play L'arlesienne (The Woman from Arles). The Farandole, a lively traditional Provençal chain dance, is represented here by proud and effervescent music that Black Dyke develop into a thrilling and almost frenzied conclusion.

Stephen Roberts in 1996 produced an arrangement of Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity from Holst’s most popular work. The perpetually heard central melody was subsequently arranged to the words “I vow to thee, my country.” Ably supported by the impeccable quality of ensemble the arrangement sounds especially effective in its brass guise.

A perennial favourite: the ubiquitous Nimrod from Elgar’s Variations on an Original Theme, ‘Enigma’ (1899) is the ninth variation and a musical representation of his friend A.J. Jaeger; the publishing manager at Novello. This performance of Eric Ball’s 1983 version of this easygoing and cheerful variation sounds highly impressive with an agreeable glow.

Achieving recognition as a stand-alone work the Prelude and Fugue: The Spitfire is extracted from Walton’s 1942 film score The First of the Few. It starred Leslie Howard who also directed. This marvellously played Alan Fernie arrangement just loses too much orchestral colour from Walton’s original.

Gershwin based his folk opera Porgy and Bess (1934-35) on Porgy the novel by DuBose Heyward. This successful arrangement by Alan Fernie uses four popular songs from the opera: the brash It ain't necessarily so; the joyous I got plenty o' nuttin'; the tender and poignant Bess, you is my woman now and the uplifting hymn I'm on my way.

Prolific arranger Dutchman Klaas van der Woude has prepared for brass the Hymn to the Fallen from John Williams’s score to Steven Spielberg’s 1998 film Saving Private Ryan. The Hymn to the Fallen is the highlight of the score and serves as a fitting requiem to all the soldiers who gave their lives during the World War II, Normandy landings in 1944. Superbly played by Black Dyke the heart-rending arrangement is defined by the distinctive plea of the fanfare-like theme that opens the piece.

The release concludes with Tchaikovsky’s celebrated 1812 Overture (1880) in a version by Robert Childs; the brother of Nicholas Childs the conductor. The myriad moods are superbly captured in this adroit arrangement. The build-up to the powerful and triumphant conclusion is especially successful.

Throughout this exciting release the outstanding feature is the security of ensemble. The excellence of the vivid and well balanced sound from Morley Town Hall together with the helpful essay from Roy Newsome contributes to the desirability of the disc.

With the wide appeal of these popular scores and the exceptional standard of the performances from the Black Dyke Band I can see significant interest and many subsequent converts to brass band music being generated by this disc. I sincerely hope that this is the first of many volumes from Naxos of Symphonic Brass.

-- Michael Cookson, MusicWeb International