Cory tops European Fraternity in Lille
The stage was set, for the champion bands of Europe to battle it out for the Continent’s top trophy, and Steven Mead was there to report for BBW:
Fraternity by Thierry Deleruyelle tells the tragic story of an underground fire in nearby Douai, in 1906, when 1,000 miners lost their lives. The different sections of the work outline the story as the workers approach the pit, proceed into the darkness of the mineshaft to begin their work and the catastrophic spread of fire.
Although the draw was unkind to the Danish Champion Lyngby-Taarbæk, which gave the première of Fraternity to a three-quarters full Nouveau Siecle, the performance was well-received, as was Whitburn’s excellent rendition under the baton of Michael Fowles, drawn two. Whitburn’s Principal Cornet, Chris Bradley, excelled on the extended and rather fearsome cornet cadenza at the beginning of the Light into Dark section. Drawn third, Black Dyke’s performance raised the bar with some astonishingly beautiful quiet playing, especially at the beginning of the Prayer, along with razor-sharp dynamic playing through the extended ‘Fire’ section. There were those in the audience and press corps who thought that the opening sections were, perhaps, a little hasty, but in the end the judges rewarded Black Dyke’s fine performance with 96 marks, which placed the band in second position by the end of the day, not that we knew that at time of course…
Click the ‘read more’ link below and subscribe to BBW Digital to find a full account of the 39th European Brass Band Contest elite division by Steven Mead, and a ‘reflections from Lille’ article by David Read MBE
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