A fine turnout of both band and audience boded well for the Xmas concert this year. Set amongst the spectacular display of Christmas trees in St. John’s Church, the band opened the first half with a rousing version of ‘Christmas Spectacular’ by Darrol Barry.
Next came the only solo item featured in this concert - ‘Benedictus’ by Carl Jenkins, featuring principal Euphonium, Nigel Eggleton.
This was followed by an audience participation number - ‘Jingle Bells’, only slightly marred by the audience not being sure whether to sit or stand for this venerable piece.
Having stretched their legs and exercised their vocal cords, the audience were then treated to Philip Sparke’s arrangement of a medieval antiphon ‘Veni Immanuel’, followed by the simple but effective ‘Nativity Carol’ by John Rutter.
Carrying on in the festive spirit saw a novel arrangement by Stephen Watkins entitled ‘You saw HOW many ships?’ which saw the traditional carol being delivered as a series of variations in differing time signatures with accompanying counterpoints.
The first half closed with Tylman Susato’s ‘Dancing and Drumming’, and the audience had the opportunity to browse the Christmas trees on display whilst they enjoyed their coffee and mince pies.
Back in their seats for the second half, the audience were in good voice for ‘O Come, all ye Faithful’ - No question about whether to stand or sit for this one!
A thoughtful arrangement of ‘How far is it to Bethlehem’ by Stephen Wood led into the somewhat more exuberant ‘Caribbean Variation’ - Sadly lacking a class of schoolchildren with various percussion items to join in, we had to make do with Daniel Andrews, principal Percussion on cowbell.
The familiar ‘White Christmas’ was the next piece, although this was Philip Sparke’s clever arrangement of the Irving Berlin classic, which slips in some discreet nods to other Christmas pieces in its scoring.
Next the band offered up Eric Ball’s arrangement of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ - not particularly festive, some may argue, but it was certainly on TV every Christmas when I was a child…..
This was followed by prize giving - the annual prize for Bandsman of the Year was awarded to Malcolm Green, principal Eb Bass in recognition of his support to the band during his period as Treasurer.
The award for Most Improved Player of the Year was awarded to John Jestico, 2nd Baritone in recognition of his personal efforts to better his own playing.
A special award was also made to Daniel Andrews, principal percussion in recognition of his hard work as the band’s sole percussionist.
Continued applause from the crowd brought conductor Marc Easener back to the floor to lead an encore of ‘Still, Still, Still’ by William Gordon.
Sadly this was the last piece, and the audience were sent out into the night with their memories of the sounds of Epping Forest Band, with jokes and witticisms dryly delivered, as ever, by Keith Hedges, princpial Flugel and purveyor of bad cracker jokes.
Thanks go to all involved in making this concert a success - this includes Lin Frost for organising refreshments; Band President Letitia Berry for her ongoing support; the deps from East London Brass who helped fill our couple of empty seats, and lastly the audience whose enthusiasm and obvious enjoyment made this concert a pleasure to perform.
Andy Brittin
2nd Euphonium. |
