Around 1910, music for military band (brass and woodwind) flourished in Britain. In part this was due to the impression that the First Suite (1909) by
Holst made on colleagues like Vaughan Williams. Also at that time, several composers were invited to add lustre to the festivities surrounding the coronation of George V. Vaughan Williams composed a series of arrangements of folk melodies for this
… purpose. In 1922 this crystallized into the English Folk Songs Suite. None of this is what we are talking about here, at least not directly. This CD concerns Vaughan William's interference with an adjacent orchestral form, namely the brass band (brass). His oeuvre in that regard was limited to three pieces, namely the overture Henry the Fifth, Prelude on Three Welsh Hymns and Variations for Brass Band. Furthermore we hear arrangements by Paul Hindmarsh (initiator of the CD) and Phillip Littlemore (one of the conductors). Among them is the aforementioned English Folk Song Suite. In addition, popular evergreens such as the Prelude on Rhosymedre can be heard. But also the more ambitious Tuba Concerto underwent an arrangement. The world famous Tredegar Town Band was formally founded in 1876, although their history goes back to 1849. (HJ)more
