Wilfred Heaton (1918-2000)
The Heaton Legacy
Foden’s Band/Michael Fowles
rec. 2023, Congleton Town Hall, UK
Reviewed as download
World of Brass DOYCD432 [63]

Wilfred Heaton was a musical adventurer, for whom exploring the latest trends in classical music were as important to him as his Christian faith. For his 18th birthday present, he asked for a collection of musical scores by the young British composer of the moment, William Walton (1902-1983). He continued to collect Walton scores as they appeared. This “obsession’ dominates much of the music Heaton composed either side of WWII. Much of the brass band music he offered to The Salvation Army after he returned from war service as RAF ground crew, was considered too adventurous in style or too challenging to perform and didn’t see the light of day until many years or even decades later. Throughout his life, Heaton remained deeply connected to the Salvation Army. The organization provided him with not only a musical education but also a sense of purpose and community. His works often reflected the values and teachings of the Salvation Army, emphasizing themes of faith, hope, and compassion. 

Over the years, a rich repertoire of music has been adapted, arranged and composed for the Salvation Army specifically. Many of the leading brass band composers and players of the 20^th century had roots in or close links with the Salvation Army. The brass band world and the Salvation Army continue to have many links and indeed this CD has been produced by “World of Brass” which is itself a subsidiary of the Salvation Army. Although mainly known for his compositions for brass Heaton also wrote Little Suite for recorder and piano a review of which can be found here.

This CD is the brainchild of Paul Hindmarsh, an ex-producer for BBC Radio3 and the former Artistic Director of the RNCM Festival of Brass. The music is performed by Foden’s Band who are ranked as the world’s No. 1 brass band, here conducted by Michael Fowles. A recent review of another of their CDs – Malcolm Arnold – Music for Brass Band can be found here. A note to me from Hindmarsh tells me that “The composition dates for most Heaton pieces are not known – he never let on! – but I can give you some approximate dates.” I have used his approximations in this review. Hindmarsh wrote the excellent sleeve notes that come with the CD and has also recently written a book about Heaton.

The CD opens with Glory! Glory!which has an interesting history. On one occasion in the late 1940s when the Salvation Army band of which Heaton was a member was marching past the local parish church, they heard the distinctive sound of local Boys’ Brigade buglers. In the extended trio section of Glory! Glory!, Heaton imagines a battle of the bands scenario in which out-of-tune bugles disrupt the Army band, reaching a climax, then fading into the distance. John Heaton, the composer’s father disapproved and in a fit of anger, Heaton, who was deputy bandmaster by then, destroyed it. Some forty years later (1988), composer Peter Graham, then bandmaster of the Regent Hall SA Band, enquired whether Heaton might write something to celebrate the reopening of ‘The Rink’ – a Salvation Army Centre in Suffolk, UK – after extensive renovation. Happy to provide something for Dr Graham, he miraculously reconstituted the piece from memory and sketches that had survived. With the tune “Glory! Glory! Hallelujah” at its heart Glory! Glory! is one of his most joyous works. The humour of the “battle” is really enchanting, full of great rousing tunes all the way to the end.

The Children’s Friend was never published in the composer’s life time but was composed in the late 1940s. Itis a beautifully conceived little gem, an evocation of the journey of a young Christian from the innocence and confidence of youth, through questions and doubts to a final assurance of a place even for children “above the bright blue sky”. Heaton was very ill when he was six or seven and nearly died, which is one reason why this song meant so much to him. It starts with a lovely lilting melody softly played before speeding up to a march. The mood then darkens and we return to peaceful, reflective music with an overall satisfying feeling.

Safe in the Promised Land was composed in the late 1940s and on this CD the arrangement is by Paul Hindmarsh. On the manuscript Heaton scribbled “ISB or NYSB? presumably indicating he had the Salvation Army’s staff bands in London and New York in mind to perform this song with brass ensemble accompaniment. In the late 1980s, the late Brian Bowen, then NYSB bandmaster, contacted Heaton to enquire if he would consider writing something for the band to perform. The old song was dusted down, with the addition of a piano part, but was not performed. It has since been recorded and published. In 2021, Hindmarsh scored it for brass band alone, dedicating this version to the memory of a Heaton friend and admirer, Michael Langham. Safe in the Promised Land was one of Langham’s favourite Heaton pieces. The piece has a wonderful lazy, jazzy feeling to it.

In 2012, the manuscript of another work came to light. Sometime between 1953 and 1956, Heaton composed a score of incidental music for a drama based on John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. The composer’s sister, Captain Hilda Heaton as she was then, was serving at The Salvation Army’s Officer Training School in Johannesburg. It is likely that Pilgrim’s Song, as Heaton entitled it, was produced for one of the annual commissioning ceremonies. The identity of the script writer is unknown. Wilfred or Hilda many have authored the adaptation themselves, although that cannot now be confirmed. There are twenty music cues, some a few bars long and others a lot more substantial. Hindmarsh has brought together the most substantial items, composed variously for small brass band, solo piano or four-part choir, creating a variations style piece for brass band. Each item is based on the tune Monks Gate in the setting by Vaughan Williams for Bunyan’s hymn “He who would true valour see”. Pilgrim’s Song (Variations) reveals the full range of Heaton’s mature style in simplified form from bi-tonal tension to haunting, expressive melody. It starts with a gentle melody but next we have a more hymn-like piece using the music from “He who would valiant be” a hymn that ends with the words “I’ll labour night and day to be a pilgrim”. The next variation begins with a fanfare which is repeated throughout the section. Then another gentle, soothing, peaceful melody. We then have a rousing hymn tune with the whole band playing with some force. Finally, we return to the tune of “He who would valiant be”, played softly and gently

The piece called Beulah Land, selecting Salvation Army and other evangelical songs on the theme of Heaven, which, if the first and last movements are anything to go by, is all singing and dancing. Heaton’s original short score comes to an end at the start of the third movement. The remainder survived in a number of barely legible sketches. Hindmarsh describes the process he used with this piece as realisation which is, of course, more comprehensive than arranging as the former involves the creation of additional music. Hindmarsh tells us “Beulah Land is lighter vein than much of his earlier work, giving a strong impression of Heaton’s style of piano improvisation – exuberant, with lots of twiddly bits and sometimes in more than one key at a time.” The first movement, Better World, is a lively waltz founded on the song There is a Better Land they say with a tune by Elsie Zealey from the 1920s. The second movement, Heavenly Home, is a slow processional, setting two songs, I have a home that is fairer than day and The home over there. 

The lively finale, Happy Land, begins with a free variation on the song There is a happy land far, far away. When the waltz returns at the end, it is obvious from the exuberance of the textures that we’ve actually arrived in Beulah Land. In John Bunyan’s poem Beulah Land is a place of peace near the end of the Christian life. It is an utterly charming piece with not a small amount of humour.

Like Elgar, Heaton decided to create Variations on an original theme, and offered it to Howard Snell but progress remained very slow and by the time he died in May 2000 it was still not finished. The Heaton family invited Howard Snell to complete the full score of what turned out to be his longest work. In his final weeks Heaton re-thought the whole scheme, creating three distinct parts. The first five variations were finished in full score and are all about virtuoso test-piece playing. The three middle variations are light-hearted takes on what bands play in concerts. There is a parody of an SA march, an operatic aria, and a deliberately banal piece of fun at the expense of some well-known traditional tunes. Then the mood darkens in variations 9, 10 and 11. We can almost hear Heaton’s unsteady heartbeat and he also pays a touching tribute to his granddaughter who had died tragically young some years before. Then in just four chords, we pass over into the heavenly joy of a radiant final chorale, variation 12. Variations is Heaton’s longest and stylistically most diverse work – a valedictory statement that seems to sum up musically much of what he had hoped to achieve earlier in his life and in that sense it’s a genuine late work. To make it more accessible for concerts and competitions, the Heaton family have sanctioned a shorter version, lasting about twenty minutes, an alternative not a replacement. It has been realised by Snell.

The CD is a great exploration of the works of a little known composer. The musical skills of Foden’s band conducted by Michael Fowles are as ever excellent, as are the sleeve notes which have helped me immensely in writing this review. Unfortunately, however, the CD is only available only as a download. 

Ken Talbot

Contents
Glory! Glory! (late 1940s, reconstructed 1988)
The Children’s Friend (late 1940’s)
Safe in the Promised Land (late 1940’s, arr. Paul Hindmarsh) *
Pilgrim’s Song Variations (late 1950’s, arr. Paul Hindmarsh) *
Beulah Land (realised by Paul Hindmarsh) *
Variations (abridged version, realised by Howard Snell) *
* CD premieres