John Rutter - Anthems, Hymns & Gloria for Brass Band (Black Dyke Band)

Information

Composer: John Rutter

1. Two Hymns of Praise: No. 1, Now Thank We All Our God
2. Two Hymns of Praise: No. 2, All Creatures of Our God & King
3. A Clare Benediction
4. What Sweeter Music
5. Requiem: Pie Jesu
6. As the Bridegroom to His Chosen
7. Go Forth into the World in Peace
8. Distant Land
9. The Lord Bless You & Keep You
10. All Things Bright & Beautiful
11. For the Beauty of the Earth
12. This Is the Day
13. Gloria: I. Gloria in excelsis Deo
14. Gloria: II. Domine Deus
15. Gloria: III. Quoniam tu solus sanctus

Black Dyke Band

Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus (13-15)

Nicholas Childs, conductor (1-12)

Darius Battiwalla, conductor (13-15)

Date: 2020

Label: Naxos

https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.574130

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Review

Two musical pillars of Christmas in the UK are John Rutter and Salvation Army silver bands. While, with one exception, there are neither John Rutter carols here nor a Salvation Army silver band, we do have a disc devoted to the music of Rutter most of which is performed by one of Britain’s most famous (and finest) bands in arrangements by Luc Vertommen. And, as such, it seems to ooze Christmas, even there is only one item – What Sweeter Music – which has a direct Christmas connection.

The Black Dyke Band under their conductor, Nicholas Childs, plays everything with supreme polish and sensitivity, and exudes a silky smooth warmth and affection. Of particular beauty is their take on The Lord Bless You and Keep You, which has such a velvety softness that it seems almost to breathe with a human voice. Also exuding a truly almost vocal style of delivery is the delightfully creamy cornet of Richard Marshall, in the Pie Jesu. I am not so sure otherwise about this arrangement, with a tinkling glockenspiel adding a slight whiff of the fairground. Indeed, on the whole, Luc Vertommen’s arrangements have a slightly over-orchestrated feel, with his version of All Things Bright and Beautiful really far too fussy and action-packed to match the simple beauty of Rutter’s original. I suspect that without a band of such superlative control to play them, these arrangements would not work anything like as effectively as they do. However, they do work magnificently in this context, and while they hardly stretch the band and have, inevitably, a certain samey quality, the luxury of the playing ensures that the novelty of Rutter on brass never wears too thin. The one exception is Distant Land (A Prayer for Freedom) which takes on a decidedly Copland-esque feel in this instrumental-only arrangement.

Scored for choir, organ, brass and percussion, the Gloria of 1974 is so strongly redolent of Walton that it is sometimes difficult to spot anything distinctive in the music, especially given this performance in which Darius Battiwala is so keen to convey the mood of celebration and festivity that the moments of repose are largely swept away by the sheer exuberance of the music-making. One senses that the church in which this recording was made was possibly a little too small to accommodate such musical enthusiasm, and certainly the men of the Sheffield Philharmonic Choir seem to have pretty much tired themselves out by the time we reach the final Amen. But what the choral singing lacks in polish, is more than amply compensated for by the sheer joie-de-vivre of the performance and the sparkling majesty of the Black Dyke Band.

-- Marc Rochester, MusicWeb International

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John Rutter (born 24 September 1945 in London) is a British composer, conductor, arranger and record producer, mainly of choral music. He read music at Clare College, Cambridge, where he was a member of the choir. In 1981, Rutter founded his own choir, the Cambridge Singers, which he conducts and with which he has made many recordings of sacred choral repertoire (including his own works), particularly under his own label Collegium Records. Rutter's music is eclectic, showing the influences of the French and English choral traditions of the early 20th century as well as of light music and American classic songwriting. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Rutter

http://www.johnrutter.com/

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Black Dyke Band, formerly John Foster & Son Black Dyke Mills Band, is one of the oldest and best-known brass bands in the world. The band has remained active since 1855, and still rehearses in its original rooms in Queensbury, West Yorkshire, England. In 2014, the Black Dyke won the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain for a record 23rd time, and the British Open Championship for another record 30th time. They have also won the European Championships a record 13 times, most recently in 2015. The band has made over 350 recordings, including one of the first brass band recordings in 1904.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Dyke_Band

http://www.blackdykeband.co.uk/

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