WELLS CATHEDRAL SCHOOL BRASS
West Dorset Music Club
Sir John Colfox School
Review: PHS


THE CLUB was treated to something different from the normal run of concerts on March 2. Twenty boys and girls from the Wells Cathedral School of Music performed all sorts of music for brass instruments in a variety of differing groups.

The programme began with trumpets and trombones arranged anti-phonally in two corners of the hall to play music by Giovanni Gabrieli, composed in the 16th century for performance in the extended acoustics of St Mark's in Venice. The school hall's reverberation times are no match for that unique building, but the performers excelled under the baton of their director, Paul Denegri.

The next group began with a slightly lugubrious piece by Mahler called Tow Blue Eyes. Then a quartet of trombones, two of hom were barely taller than their instruments gave a superb display of controlled playing, from Beethoven's Three Equali, performed at his funeral, via Scarborough Fair, to the Teddy Bears' Picnic, a stunning arrangement by Iveson, in which the players, two of whom are 14 years old, gave outstanding renditions: not quite so surprising when one understands that the group represents most of the trombone section of the National Youth Orchestra. This was followed by some lively American Dances by Keith Amos.

After the interval, another Canzon by Gabrieli was followed by the Ten Piece Brass Ensemble: horn, tuba, trombones and trumpets including piccolo trumpet and flugelhorns. A suite of old French dance movements by 16th century composer Susatot was played with musical passion and intelligence, and controlled entirely by the players without the benefit of a conductor. The concert ended with a variety of numbers dealing with cats - cool but very acceptable to the later generation who form the majority of members of the club.

The music director Paul Denegri, a dedicated man who has conducted or advised just about every group of young players in the country, conducted the first number only; he explained that groups of young players are trained to control the ensemble by small, discreet movements by the players themselves: this was clearly proved during a performance which enthralled the audience for the whole concert.