CD: Great Cinema Hits

Black Dyke Band presents a varied collection of instantly recognisable film scores sure to delight moviegoers and casual listeners alike.  

Acting as a showcase for Obrasso publications, featuring previously recorded tracks from Best of Movie Hits and Screen Blockbusters, the popular arrangements will already be familiar to many brass band aficionados. These range from the exuberant antics of Back To The Future, I Will Follow Him, Hawaii Five-O, Wild West! and The Best of Ennio Morricone, amongst many others.

In contrast there are a number of more reflective items to be found in Out of Africa, Forrest Gump: Feather Theme and Everything I Do, I Do It For You. The haunting main theme from Schindler’s List is a particular highlight.

The variety of the programmed music is refreshing to the listener, ensuring that a wide range of musical styles is showcased. By and large, the arrangements are successful, and should be manageable by bands of all standards.

As would be expected of the Queensbury ensemble, Black Dyke executes these arrangements with absolute ease, capturing the excitement and beauty of each track, despite a few arrangements perhaps hindering some of the musical intent.

Though recorded in several different sessions, the audio quality is balanced and consistent throughout the disc, making for a comfortable listening experience. Meanwhile, the physical presentation is straightforward - a track list and biographical information is provided. Although perhaps a little more information about the music would have been appreciated, the pieces are so well known that they speak for themselves anyway.

Whilst this disc would struggle to maintain the interest of a serious brass band audience, that is not by any means its intent. Instead, this instantly recognisable collection of film scores is guaranteed to be an instant hit with the general public and casual listeners, whilst also providing a useful archive of easily accessible music from a popular concert genre for bands of all standards.

THOMAS DUNNE

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