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Photographs © 2003 Anthony Reimer or Egil & Brith Gundersen (used with permission)

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The Danish Concert Band

Concert Review by Timothy Reynish

www.concertband.dk

One of the top community bands in the world, the Danish Concert Band remains one of the few bands of its type in Denmark. The repertoire is generally on the light side, and this was a programme of wind music far from the cutting edge, but featured works which could be extremely useful in programming a community, small college or even military band concert. It was very expertly conducted by Jørgen Misser Jensen and guest conductor Johan de Meij

Akerwall's Fanfare and Fugunale; begins with an exciting Hollywood style, followed by what might be a quotation from the Rakhmaninov Prelude in C# Minor which ushers in a contrasting section of brooding introspection featuring a magnificent euphonium solo. The Fuganale is a little academic and stops abruptly when the mood changes to one of Nordic melancholia.

Soren Hyldgaard is well known for his music in a wide range of genres, particularly film. The opening gesture of his Rapsodia is striking, the trombone writing at the start is punchy and memorable, a development of a brief motif. This gives way to a more lyrical passage. The ensuing slow section pits long lyrical trombone lines against the upper woodwinds. I found the ensuing large-scale chorale section a little sentimental, but it builds impressively to a trombone cadenza. The following triple section has a terrific swing to it, sumptuously scored with plenty of contrast, moving back to the chorale material. This theme overstays its welcome a little for me, though this makes the final allegro the more exciting. This was great playing of a work which will be a very useful addition to the repertoire.

Johan de Meij leapt to prominence through winning the Sudler Award with The Lord of the Rings, and those who love this piece will enjoy The Wind in the Willows enormously. It features unpretentious and often quite charming music, beautifully scored as are all of Johan's works and arrangements. The opening inhabits the world of Smetana's Vltava , the river rippling way under a short motif in the upper winds and brass. Contrasting movements follow, including some very striking energetic music. There is a predictability about many of the melodic and harmonic procedures. For many listeners, this is its strength, for others its weakness. Suffice it to say that those who love Johan's style will welcome this programmatic piece. As always it was great to have him at theConference to talk about his music and recordings, as well as his avant garde group, De Vollharding, who played at Lucerne.

Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen, if memory serves me (the programmes were not informative), was a staff composer with the Norwegian military, and he has contributed a considerable number of works for winds. His Cantilena for Trombone and Wind Orchestra is a considerable piece, about twelve minutes in length, with some striking sonorities, cadenza passage for the soloist playing octaves, and a haunting coda which stays with you for some time.

Former WASBE Council member Yasuhide Ito needs no introduction; this is probably the third if not fourth performance of Gloriosa at a WASBE Conference, yet it still makes an impact. I preferred the performance by the Karasugawa Wind Orchestra in Schladming simply because of the wonderfully idiomatic flute solos with those Japanese inflections, and because Maestro Kodama took more time over the slower sections. The Danish Wind Orchestra and Misser Jenson are absolutely great at delivering the faster punchy music with energy and panache.

The CD of this concert is well worth purchasing, together with others in the catalogue of the Orchestra. Jensen gets a wide range of dynamics, an immediate response, and has put together here a very satisfying and varied programme.