Madrid Brass Band Debut
A new brass band inspired by the classic British tradition, but with a Spanish flavour, has made its debut in the heart of the Spanish capital city. The concert took place at the Cuba se la Sagra under the baton of former 3BA Concert Band conductor Franz Matysiak. Commenting on how the debut performance came about, band spokesperson Johannes Dull explained, "My brass teacher Jonatan Sevilla Requena and his friend Eduardo Sanchez Escribano are both renowned tuba players and know about the British brass band movement. About a decade ago they had the idea to start a brass band association in Madrid but only in the last year did it come about.”
Although the band itself it still a little way off a traditional 'British' set-up, the desire to play original brass band music is a driving force, as Johannes explained. "In Spain we do not have tenor horns, so we do need to see how we can get our hands on some for our players to enjoy, but we have a near complete cornet section with our soprano playing Eb trumpet and piccolo. The tubas are F and C so it’s just a question of transposing, but we hope to get Eb and Bb in the future too."
The majority of the musicians are professional players who are active in the Madrid region, or who play in orchestras or military bands or as music teachers in Conservatories. Johannes continued, "It means we have players who already perform at a high level, so I am the exception at the moment, but I did enjoy playing with the Jaguar Land Rover Band when I lived there for an internship, so I have been able to use my experience to help the Madrid Brass Band plan for the future."
For their first concert appearance the band performed an ambitious programme with Eric Ball's classic 'Resurgam' and Philip Wilby's 'Paganini Variations' as the main works, whilst they also chose lighter pieces such as the up tempo opener 'Where Eagles Sing', the baritone solo 'Donegal Bay' and some Spanish favourites. Johannes concluded, "We wanted to test our ambition and so picked a programme that combined classic British repertoire and something lighter for the audience to enjoy. And they did!"
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