Music: Tenor Horn Solo - In The Bleak Midwinter

This sensitive arrangement of Gustav Holt’s In The Bleak Midwinter gives a band’s solo tenor horn player a chance to demonstrate their sound and expressive qualities as a featured soloist. 

Admirably, Dr. Rodney Newton chooses to avoid any extravagant enhancement, allowing the beauty of the original music to speak for itself. The soloist states the theme, atmospherically accompanied by the first baritone, euphonium and tuba, before switching to a soaring counter-melody as the solo cornet takes over the theme.

Finally, the full band opens up in a warming climax, before the soloist marks a return to the original atmosphere to a close. This simple, yet truly beautiful arrangement will no doubt become popular among horn players and audiences alike as a valuable addition to the Christmas concert repertoire.

THOMAS DUNNE

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