Virtuoso – Music for Euphonium and Brass Band
David Childs (euphonium)
Black Dyke Band/Nicholas Childs
rec. 2024, Morley Town Hall, UK
Reviewed from download
Naxos 8.574683 [69]
This new recital from Naxos contains music by Mozart, Rossini, Rimsky-Korsakov and Glennie arranged for brass band alongside works by lesser known composers.
First, let me explain who the various people credited on this CD are. David Childs is the euphonium soloist, Nicholas Childs the conductor and Robert Childs the arranger of two of the tracks. Nicholas and Robert, both accomplished euphonium players themselves, are brothers and David is Robert’s son. David is one of the most accomplished euphonium players in the world and holds professorships at academic institutions in Tokyo, Texas and his home country of Wales. His playing is beautiful and sensitive, as is amply demonstrated by his piece Wayfarer (Reflections on Poor Wayfaring Stranger) on the 2023 Naxos 8574563 release. On that CD, just like the current one being reviewed, he is joined by Black Dyke Band, conducted by Nicholas Childs and joined by the first class recording engineer Phil Hardman.
Black Dyke Band are one of the world’s premiere brass band and have recorded a significant number of CDs over the years. Three recent ones reviewed by MusicWeb International are Bliss – Works for Brass Band; Lloyd – The Works for Brass and Rutter: Brass at Christmas
We are beginning to see an increasing number of orchestral works featuring the euphonium; Childs has premiered sixteen concertos for euphonium, including a Royal Albert Hall BBC Proms broadcast of Alun Hoddinott’s The Sunne Rising – The King Will Ride, and the Carnegie Hall US premiere of Karl Jenkins’ Concerto for Euphonium and Orchestra. Nevertheless the euphonium is not, of course, part of a typical orchestra but I often feel that its role in a brass band is similar to that of the cello in an orchestra in that most of the melody is played by the cornets as opposed to the violins; the cello is often used to create a mellower, richer sound within an orchestra and the euphonium takes this role in a brass band. This is used to stunning effect in Malcolm Arnold’s piece, Fantasy for brass band, which was written as a test piece. About five minutes into the work, we hear an Elegy,in which the melody is played first by the cornet and then repeated by the euphonium. The effect is profoundly moving to me, reflecting the desolation and loneliness of Arnold’s life; he suffered from mental illness for most of his adult years. The piece is reviewed here.
The CDs title, Virtuoso,reflects the choice of music included; it’s all designed to demonstrate David Childs’ abilities. The first piece is Zigeunerweisencomposedby Pablo de Sarasate, who began studying the violin with his father, an artillery bandmaster, at the age of five. It remains one of the virtuoso violinist’s best-known works and is also known as Gypsy Airs. It has a familiar tune slowly teasing the listener with its dance-like motifs in lovely mellow tones. The finale is bright and lively showing off the soloist’s tonguing skills admirably.
It’s followed by an equally well known and loved piece – Danny Boy, in an arrangement by Karl Jenkins. It began life in Jenkins’ film score, River Queen, and subsequent choral album, This Land of Ours. On this CD, it’s peaceful and beautifully performed oozing with the pathos of the original tune.
Rossini’s Largo al factotum the famous Italian aria from Rossini’s comedy opera, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, has not only been immortalised by many of the world’s great baritones, but has also featured on the soundtrack of numerous cartoons and films. After all, who can forget Wille the Operatic Whale released by Disney in 1954? The arrangement on the CD is by David Childs himself and it certainly shows off his skills from the slow, soothing melodies to the high energy and speedy sections.
There has been no shortage of arrangements of Mozart’s music for euphonium players throughout history, and the first of two on this release is Adagio (K. 580a). It is in sonata form, its main theme closely resembling Mozart’s famous motet, Ave verum corpus. Its gently played by Childs. The second work by Mozart is Rondo alla Turca, one of the composer’s most famous works, arranged for euphonium and brass band by Robert Childs. This setting received its premiere at the Royal Albert Hall in 1996, performed by Robert Childs and Black Dyke Band under the baton of the late James Watson. On this CD its short and fast.
On the 1995 RCA Victor – 60242-2-RC release called Rhythm Song, Evelyn Glennie, the iconic percussion soloist, recorded a piece for solo marimba called A Little Prayer. The arrangement for solo euphonium and brass band was made in 1998 following a collaboration between Glennie and Black Dyke Band. With the composer’s blessing, Robert Childs, then principal euphonium player with Black Dyke, arranged it for solo euphonium and brass band, gifting the score and parts to his son, David, as a birthday present in March 1998. It has the style of a hymn tune played so delightfully by David Childs; it is soft and gentle.
Another very well-known piece is Carnival of Venice popularised by violinist and composer Niccolò Paganini. Many arrangements of this famous theme and variations exist, including Jean-Baptiste Arban’s iconic version for brass. This recording is full of colour, fun and energy
Our next composer Tamezō Narita is Japanese; his tune Song of the Seashore is also known as Hamabe no Uta. The CD notes tell us that, “this arrangement, inspired by a flute version by Sir James Galway and crafted for Robert Childs, Alan Catherall uses the simplistic cantabile melody to bring to the fore the unique singing qualities”. It seems that it has been recorded a few times for different instruments, including Jean-Francois Paillard Chamber Orchestra Denon DC 8116, The Philip Jones Brass Ensemble on the Claves label and even Julian Lloyd Webber with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Nicholas Cleobury Philips CD/MC/LP 416 698-2/4/1. It’s another charming piece with a reflective, nostalgic atmosphere.
Cornetist and violinist John Hartmann composed several solos for himself, but Facilita is one of his most popular. It is the first solo David Childs played in concert with a brass band during the mid-1990s, and Peter Graham created this new arrangement, especially for the soloist. It begins with a fanfare before we hear some sweet, mellow music then finally it settles into a showy, ornamental cadenza.
Mantovani was a famous orchestra leader from the 1950s who was responsible for many TV shows. Our next composer cornetist George Swift actually playing his own piece Elfriede on one of them. The version played on the CD was created by Alan Catherall for Robert Childs; Robert’s son David plays it with great feeling and not a little humour, slurring the high notes.
A very popular work within the brass banding community is All those Endearing Young Charms composed by Sicilian Simone Mantia. He emigrated to the United States as a young child and played under John Philip Sousa for seven years. He composed his own solos of which this is the most famous. Childs plays it with delicacy and again some humour comes through; it’s a very entertaining piece showing off his virtuosic skills.
Dan Price has created a new arrangement of Macushla composed by Dermot MacMurrough in the early 1900s. The title relates to the Irish phrase ‘mo chuisle’, meaning ‘my pulse’ or ‘my heartbeat’, a term of endearment often translated as ‘my darling’ or ‘my beloved’. Childs plays it with a warmth, beauty and intimacy reminiscent of this beautiful Irish song.
Born in Sweden, Erik Leidzén moved to the United States in 1915, which may explain his use of an American melody in Home on the Range, painting a nostalgic picture of the open plains, vast skies and serene beauty of frontier life. Once again this recording demonstrates well Childs’ light-hearted yet beautiful and sensitive playing as well as the mellow tones of the euphonium.
Brillante (Fantasy on Rule, Britannia!) was composed by Peter Graham as a duet for the Childs Brothers (Robert and Nicholas) to perform at the British Bandsman Centenary Concert in the Free Trade Hall Manchester on 5 September 1987. With a nod to the Welsh heritage of Robert and Nicholas Childs, the work also includes a brief minor setting of Men of Harlech. Its performed here in its solo version. Along with some impressive fast tonguing it’s full of nationalistic swagger and lots of familiar melodies.
Before the buzz that the CD gives its listeners comes to an end, the final track is Nikolay Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumble Bee. Child’s playing is fast capturing perfectly its frantic flight.
The CD notes by David Childs are excellent and the information contained there has been of great help to me in writing this review. The expertise of the Black Dyke Band and their conductor Nicholas Childs exudes throughout the release and David Childs is, as the CD title suggests, undoubtedly a virtuoso. However, I do have a small reservation which is about the choice of works included; there could perhaps have been some more unusual music rather than the very-well-known pieces recorded. This, in my opinion, would have made an excellent album perfect.
Ken Talbot
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Contents
Pablo de Sarasate (1844–1908)
Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20 (1878, arr. Jonathan Bates and David Childs 2017) *
Traditional
Danny Boy (arr. Karl Jenkins 2023) *
Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868)
Il barbiere di Siviglia – Act I: Cavatina: Largo al factotum (1816, arr. David Childs 2023) *
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)
Adagio in F major, K. 580a (1780s, arr. Philip Wilby 1996)
Rondo alla turca (1781–83, arr. Robert Childs1996)
Evelyn Glennie (b. 1965)
A Little Prayer (1978, arr. Robert Childs 1998)
Jean-Baptiste Arban (1825–1889)/Niccolò Paganini (1782–1840)
Variations sur Le Carnaval de Venise (1861, arr. Alan Catherall (1985)
Tamezō Narita (1893–1945)
Hamabe no Uta (‘Song of the Seashore’(1916, arr. Alan Catherall 1993)
John Hartmann (1830–1897)
Facilita (pub. 1932, arr. Peter Graham 2023) *
George Swift (1911–1985)
Elfriede (1930?, arr. Alan Catherall 1993)
Simone Mantia (1873–1951)
All those Endearing Young Charms (1908?, arr. David Childs 2009)
Dermot MacMurrough (Harold R. White, 1872–1943)
Macushla (c. 1910, arr. Dan Price 2023) *
Erik Leidzén (1894–1962)
Home on the Range (1960) (original tune by Daniel E. Kelley [1843–1905])
Peter Graham (b. 1958)
Brillante (Fantasy on Rule, Britannia!)(1987)
Nikolay Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908)
Tale of Tsar Saltan, Op. 57 – Flight of the Bumblebee (1901, arr. David Childs 2023) *
* First recording
