Tuesday 28 November 2017

Christmas Concert 2017 - Full Programme

Programme Overview

The Cowboys
Children's March - Over the Hills and Far Away
Tubby the Tuba
Indiana Jones Selection

INTERVAL

Let the Bells Ring
Ding-Dong Merrily on High
Troika
Minor Alterations 2 : Carols from the Dark Side
I Am The Doctor
The First Noel
The Christmas Song
A Christmas Overture

Saturday 2nd December 2017
Abington Avenue United Reformed Church
Conducted by Graham Tear

Northampton Concert Band  

The Cowboys - John Williams
arr. Jim Curnow
John Williams is probably best known for his music for the Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Harry Potter franchises. While his film composing career started in the late 1950’s the music from the opening titles of The Cowboys (1972), starring John Wayne, shows the then 40 year old Williams already at the top of this game. The music paints a picture of Stetson wearing cowboys, riding spirited horses, rounding up and driving cattle over a vast dry plain.

Children’s March : Over the Hills and Far Away - Percy Grainger
arr. Frank Erickson George
Percy Aldridge Grainger (8 July 1882 – 20 February 1961) was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist. In the course of a long and innovative career, he played a prominent role in the revival of interest in British folk music in the early years of the 20th century. He also made many adaptations of other composers' works. Although much of his work was experimental and unusual, the piece with which he is most generally associated is his piano arrangement of the folk-dance tune "Country Gardens".

Tubby the Tuba - Paul Tripp and George Kleinsinger
arr.George F Roach
Soloist: Robert Chadwick
Narrated by Mark Woodham
Made famous by the 1975 animated feature, and also recorded by Danny Kaye, the inspiration for Tubby the Tuba came following the attack on Pearl Harbour. Tripp and Kleinsinger had been performing with a band and after the first piece the tuba player quipped, "You know, tubas can sing, too." With this in mind, Tripp wrote the tale of a tuba who found a melody to play, and the pair then made a song out of it.

Indiana Jones Selection - John Williams
arr. H. van der Heide
We return to John Williams to close our first half of tonight’s concert. This selection features many of Williams’ most memorable themes from the first three Indiana Jones films.

Raiders March | Slave Children’s Crusade | Short Round’s Theme | Love Theme | The Keeper of the Grail | Raiders March reprise

Interval

Let the Bells Ring - Robert Buckley
Based on the familiar Ukrainian Bell Carol, Robert Buckley has taken a rhapsodic approach mixing original ideas along with this well-known melody. Originally composed by Mykola Dmytrovich Leontovych, the Ukrainian Bell Carol is part of a large choral work entitled Shchedryk. It was first performed by students of Kiev University in December 1916. The tune is an adaptation of an old ‘shchedrivka’, a song traditionally sung on Ukrainian New Year’s Eve.

Audience Carol 
Ding-dong Merrily on High

Troika - Sergei Prokofiev
arr. Harold C Walters
Prokofiev's Troika is a movement from the orchestral suite; 'Lieutenant Kije'. It was originally composed for the 1934 Russian film of the same name. A Troika is a horse-drawn sledge and the music accompanied a sequence in the film where a ride is taken following a fictional wedding. Invoking the imagery of a short, fast, ride through the snow the piece has become a popular seasonal favourite. Interestingly, this music does not feature any sleigh bells, though a similar effect is created by the percussion accompaniment.

Minor Alterations 2 : Carols from the Dark Side - David Lovrien
Here's a game of holiday music hide-and-seek! Minor Alterations 2: Carols from the Dark Side is a medley of favourite Christmas tunes, transposed from major to minor keys then disguised, layered and morphed even more. From the ominous ‘I Saw Three Ships’ to ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’. How many do you recognise?

I Am The Doctor - Murry Gold
arr. Robert Buckley
This theme from the long running BBC drama series Doctor Who was introduced during Matt Smith’s tenure as the 11th Doctor. It is usually heard when the Doctor is being heroic or solving a complex problem and has featured heavily during trailers for the program.

Audience Carol 
The First Noel

The Christmas Song  - Mel Tormé & Robert Wells
arr. Jerry Nowak
According to Tormé, the song was written during a blistering hot summer in 1945. In an effort to "stay cool by thinking cool". I saw a spiral pad on Wells' piano with four lines written in pencil", Tormé recalled. "They started, 'Chestnuts roasting..., Jack Frost nipping..., Yuletide carols..., Folks dressed up like Eskimos.' Bob didn't think he was writing a song lyric. He said he thought if he could immerse himself in winter he could cool off. Forty minutes later that song was written. I wrote all the music and some of the lyrics."

A Christmas Overture - Nigel Hess
This vivacious and colourful Christmas Overture, originally commissioned as an orchestral work by John Rutter for his 2007 Christmas Festival, proved an instant success with audience and orchestra alike. Traditional carols, skilfully juxtaposed and interwoven, provide the thematic material.
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Monday 20 November 2017

Story of Tubby the Tuba brought to life this Christmas


From Left to Right
Tubby, with Robert Chadwick and Mark Woodham
Tubby the Tuba will be making a rare appearance as part of this year's Christmas Concert.

This musical story, of how a lowly Tuba finds his voice and then gets to sing, will be narrated by popular local actor, Mark Woodham.

Mark, who is no stranger to the stage, having recently performed the role of the wizard in The Wizard of Oz at Northampton's Royal and Derngate Theatre, said; "I was delighted to be invited by the band to tell Tubby's tale and help bring the story to life."

Robert Chadwick, a long-time member of the band, who will be playing the role of Tubby, said; “It’s not very often the Tuba gets a chance to step into the limelight and this theme is reflected in Tubby’s story. Of course, the story can only be told with support from the rest of the band who will do an excellent job, as always.”

You can hear Tubby the Tuba performed, as well as many festive favourites, carols, and music by joining Northampton Concert Band on Saturday 2nd. December at Abington Avenue United Reformed Church, NN1 4QA at 7pm. Call 07561 390099 or buy online
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Monday 3 July 2017

Stage & Screen Full Programme - 8th July 2017

Programme Overview

BAND
633 Squadron
Aladdin
Three Dances from “West Side Story”
Jurassic Park
CONCERT GROUP
Another Op’nin’of Another Show
Medley from “Beauty and the Beast”
Lullaby of Broadway
Medley from “Oliver”

INTERVAL

CONCERT GROUP
Chattanooga Choo-Choo
Medley from Jekyll and Hyde
Over the Rainbow from “The Wizard of Oz”
BAND
Chicago
Soul Bossa Nova
Miss Saigon
Singin’ in the Rain
The Incredibles

Saturday 8th July 2017
Abington Avenue United Reformed Church
Conducted by Graham Tear

Northampton Concert Band (NCB) with
Northampton Musical Theatre Company - Concert Group (NMTC)

633 Squadron - 
Ron Goodwin
arr. Goff Baldwin
This British film depicts the exploits of a fictional WW2 British fighter-bomber squadron. While critics derided the wooden acting and hackneyed plot, the aerial scenes were considered spectacular, and with Ron Goodwin's music, remained the main attraction.

Aladdin - Alan Menken
arr. John Moss
Composer Alan Menken and songwriters Howard Ashman and Tim Rice were praised for creating a soundtrack that is "consistently good, rivaling the best of Disney's other animated musicals from the '90s." Menken and Ashman began work on the film together, with Rice taking over as the lyricist after Ashman died in early 1991. Although fourteen songs were written for Aladdin, only six are featured in the movie, three by each lyricist. Arabian Nights | One Jump Ahead | Wedding Announcement | A Whole New World | Jafar’s Hour | Prince Ali | On A Dark Night | Friend Like Me | Happy Ending

West Side Story - Leonard Bernstein
arr. Ian Polster
Debuting on Broadway in 1957, West Side Story was inspired by William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. The score for West Side Story was orchestrated by Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal following detailed instructions from Bernstein, who then wrote revisions on their manuscript. Ramin, Kostal, and Bernstein are billed as orchestrators for the show. The orchestra consisted of 31 players: a large Broadway pit orchestra enhanced to include 5 percussionists, a guitarist and a piano/celesta player.In 1961, Bernstein prepared a suite of orchestral music from the show, titled Symphonic Dances from West Side Story:
We will be performing three of these: 1. Scherzo, 2. Mambo, 3. Cha-Cha

Jurassic Park - John Williams
arr. Paul Lavender
This early 90s science fiction film based on the novel by Michael Crichton was a big-budget blockbuster by Steven Spielberg. Composer John Williams began scoring the film at the end of February 1993, and it was recorded a month later.Similar to another Spielberg film he scored, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Williams felt he needed to write "pieces that would convey a sense of 'awe' and fascination" given it dealt with the "overwhelming happiness and excitement" that would emerge from seeing live dinosaurs.
The music lost out to the Academy Award for best Original Score which was awarded for Schindler's List, also composed by Williams.
  Northampton Musical Theatre Concert Group

Another Op’nin’of Another Show - Cole Porter
"Another Op'nin', Another Show" is the opening number of Cole Porter's 1948 musical Kiss Me, Kate.
The story involves the production of a musical version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and the conflict on and off-stage between the show's director, producer, and star, and his leading lady and his ex-wife.
Kiss Me, Kate was Porter's response to Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! and other integrated musicals; it was the first show he wrote in which the music and lyrics were firmly connected to the script, and it proved to be his biggest hit and the only one of his shows to run for more than 1,000 performances on Broadway. The song was dropped from the 1953 film version of the musical.

Beauty and the Beast Medley - Howard Ashman and Alan Menken
arr. Roger Emerson.
Walt Disney first attempted unsuccessfully to adapt Beauty and the Beast, based on the French fairy tale of the same name by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, into an animated film during the 1930s and 1950s. Following the success of The Little Mermaid (1989), Walt Disney Pictures decided to adapt the fairy tale and in 1991 the film was released.
3 years later in 1994 a Broadway version of the musical was produced using the original eight songs from the film with an additional six songs composed by Menken and lyricist Tim Rice, replacing Howard Ashman who has passed away.
In the 2017 live action film version, the original songs were used and 4 new songs were composed by Menken and Rice.

Lullaby of Broadway - Al Dubin and Harry Warren
arr. Dave Wolpe
"Lullaby of Broadway" is a popular song with music written by Harry Warren and lyrics by Al Dubin, published in 1935. The lyrics salute the nightlife of Broadway and its denizens, who "don't sleep tight until the dawn."
Used in the stage production, 42nd Street, the show focuses on the efforts of famed dictatorial Great White Way director Julian Marsh to mount a successful stage production of a musical extravaganza at the height of the Great Depression.

Oliver! Medley - Lionel Bart
arr. Norman Leyden
Based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, Oliver! (including the exclamation mark) premiered in the West End in 1960.
As well as writing British pop songs, including ‘Living Doll’ for Cliff Richard, Lionel Bart’s third musical ‘Oliver!’ was an instant success. Becoming the first British musical to be transferred to Broadway successfully.

INTERVAL

CONCERT GROUP

Chattanooga Choo-Choo - Mack Gordon and Harry Warren
arr. Mike Carubia.
Sun Valley Serenade is a 1941 musical film starring Sonja Henie, John Payne, Glenn Miller, Milton Berle, and Lynn Bari. It features the Glenn Miller Orchestra as well as dancing by the Nicholas Brothers and Dorothy Dandridge, performing "Chattanooga Choo Choo", which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1996, and was awarded the first Gold Record for sales of 1.2 million.

Medley from Jekyll and Hyde - Leslie Bricusse and Frank Wildhorn
arr. Ed Lojeski
Jekyll and Hyde is a musical horror-drama loosely based on the novella The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. 
In an attempt to cure his ailing father’s mental illness by separating “good” from “evil” in the human personality, talented physician Dr. Jekyll inadvertently creates an alternate personality of pure evil, dubbed Mr. Hyde, who wreaks murderous havoc on the city of London. Struggling to control Hyde before he takes over for good, Jekyll must race to find a cure for the demon he has created in his own mind.

Over the Rainbow from “The Wizard of Oz” - E.Y.Harburg and Harold Arlen
Written for the movie The Wizard of Oz, Over the Rainbow was sung by actress Judy Garland in her starring role as Dorothy Gale. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and became Garland's signature song, as well as one of the most enduring standards of the 20th century.
Today the song is seen as a song of hope, meaning many different things to many people and still has relevance today. Ariana Grande sang the song at the closing of the One Love Manchester benefit concert following the Manchester bombings that took place on the 22nd May 2017.

Northampton Concert Band

Chicago - John Kander
arr. Ted Ricketts
Set in Prohibition-era Chicago, the musical is based on a 1926 play of the same name by reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins about actual criminals and crimes she reported on. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal."
Watkins moved to Chicago and in early 1924 worked as a reporter with the Chicago Tribune. There she covered the murders and the subsequent trials of Belva Gaertner, a twice-divorced cabaret singer, and Beulah Sheriff Annan. Both women, after months of press coverage in Chicago's seven daily
papers, were found not guilty at trial. Watkins believed they were guilty.
Songs include: And All that Jazz | Cell Block Tango | Roxie | They Both Reached for the Gun

Soul Bossa Nova - Quincy Jones
arr. Denis Burton
Quincy Delight Jones, Jr. , also known as "Q", came to prominence in the 1950s as a jazz arranger and conductor, before moving on to work prolifically in pop music and film scores.
Quincy Jones claimed it took him only twenty minutes to compose the Soul Bossa Nova and it appeared on his 1962 Big Band Bossa Nova album.
The track was used in the opening sequence of Mike Myer's James Bond spoof film 'Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery'. Myers starred as both the title character Austin Powers and main antagonist Dr. Evil.

Miss Saigon - Claude-Micel Schonberg
arr. Warren Barker
Based on Puccini’s opera Madame Butterfly, Miss Saigon similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed romance involving an Asian woman abandoned by her American lover. The setting of the plot is relocated to the 1970s Saigon during the Vietnam War, and Madame Butterfly's story of marriage between an American lieutenant and Japanese girl is replaced by a romance between an American GI and a Vietnamese bar girl. The musical was premièred at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London, on 20 September 1989, closing after over four thousand performances, on 30 October 1999. The show was revived this year on the West End in May (2014). The Heat Is On In Saigon, Sun And Moon, Morning Of The Dragon, The Last Night Of The World, The American Dream, I Still Believe.

Singin’ in the Rain - Nacio Herb Brown
arr. Allan Fernie
The film 'Singin' in the Rain' was originally conceived by MGM producer Arthur Freed, the head of the "Freed Unit" responsible for turning out MGM's lavish musicals, as a vehicle for his catalog of songs written with Nacio Herb Brown for previous MGM musical films of the 1929–39 period.
In the famous dance sequence in which Gene Kelly sings the title song while spinning an umbrella, splashing through puddles and getting soaked to the skin, Kelly was sick with a 103 °F (39 °C) fever. Filmed over a period of 3 days, the rain in the scene caused Kelly's wool suit to shrink during filming.

The Incredibles - Michael Giacchino
arr Jay Bocook
The Incredibles is the first Pixar film to be scored by Michael Giacchino and Giacchino's first big feature film. Brad Bird was looking for a specific sound as inspired by the film's design – the future as seen from the 1960s. John Barry was the first choice to do the film's score. However, Barry did not wish to duplicate the sound of some of his earlier soundtracks; the assignment was instead given to Giacchino.
The upbeat jazz orchestral sound was a departure in style not only for Giacchino but for Pixar, which had previously relied on Randy and Thomas Newman for all of its films.Giacchino was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 2005 for The Incredibles: Best Score Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media and Best Instrumental Composition.

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Friday 19 May 2017

It's Showtime!

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Northampton Concert Band are pleased to announce their next concert - Stage & Screen.

They will also be joined by guests from The Northampton Musical Theatre Group to add that extra bit of razzle-dazzle to the evening. Featuring music and songs from your favourite films and musicals this is one night you'll not want to miss.

Tickets: £10 Adults, £5 Students/Children.
Box office: Rachel 07561 390099 or buy online.
Abington Avenue United Reformed Church, Abington Avenue, Northampton NN1 4QA
Saturday 7:30pm 8th July
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Monday 27 March 2017

Bands in the Park 2017

'Bands in the Park', hosted Northampton Brough Council, returns from this Sunday (2nd April) and runs until September 17th at the Victorian bandstand in Abington Park.
Come and enjoy traditional music from a large mix of bands in the beautiful and relaxed surroundings of Abington Park.

Northampton Concert Band will be performing in the park on June 11th 2 -5pm

For a full list of performers visit http://www.northampton.gov.uk/info/200241/events/1959/bands-in-the-park
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Wednesday 8 March 2017

Spring Serenade - 25th March 2017 - Full Programme

Programme Overview

Earl of Oxfords March
Illyrian Dances
Cornet Concerto
Millennium Bridge
Congestion Charge
Thames Journey

Interval

Suite in E flat
Igor's Lament (from Venetian Spells)
Irish Tune from County Derry
Shepherds Hey
Legend of the Ninth - March Beyond the Wall
Pre Goodman Rag
Yiddish Dances (Freylachs)
Evocations - Royal Hunt of the Sun

Saturday 25th March 2017
Holy Sepulchre Church, Northampton
Conducted by Graham Tear


Earl of Oxfords March – William Byrd

Little is known about Byrd’s early life, though he once implied that he was born around 1540. It seems likely that he came under the influence of Thomas Tallis (1505-1585) at an early age as he later dedicated works to him as ‘my great teacher’.

Tallis was the finest English composer of his generation and his influence on Byrd’s music can be seen in many ways. Byrd was later to be hailed as ‘the father of English music’

It was probably written after 1588 when England was in a mood of national celebration after victory over the Spanish and French Armadas. The movement which Byrd calls Marche Before The Battell became known as The Earl of Oxford’s March, though it is not entirely clear why – it appears with that title in an early manuscript copy of the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book. Written while Byrd was at the height of his powers, it still stirs the soul to this day.


Illyrian Dances - Guy Woolfenden

I. Rondeau
II. Aubade
III. Gigue

Guy Woolfenden composed over 150 scores for the Royal Shakespeare Company. This suite of dances is adapted from thematic material from a production of Twelfth Night, set in Illyria. The precise location of Illyria was not important to Shakespeare; what excited him was the resonance of the word itself and the romance of all far away, make-believe places. Illyria is “Never-Never Land”, and Woollfenden was intrigued with the idea of inventing dances for such a place.

Cornet Concerto – Denis Wright
Soloist: Chris Cox

I Allegro
II Canzonetta 
III Rondo

Denis Wright was an English composer and conductor of Brass Band music, he completed this concerto during 1941 while he was working in Glasgow for the BBC. The first performance of the concerto was broadcast from there with Harry Mortimer as the soloist with the BBC Military Band, it was a year later when the Brass Band version was first performed and it has been a standard for cornet soloists ever since.

Millennium Bridge - Nigel Hess
Congestion Charge
Thames Journey

The first two of these pieces by Nigel Hess are from a suite of 3 movements entitled New London Pictures, the missing movement being London Eye.

Millennium Bridge describes the journey across the new landmark bridge from the Tate Modern, crossing the busy river and onwards to St Paul’s Cathedral with its bells ringing over the great city.

Congestion Charge is a racy and comical romp depicting Londoners attempting to go about their business in the face of overwhelming odds – including traffic lights.

Our final item of our first half is Thames Journey, depicting the river that has shaped London. The piece begins at the river's source with just a few drops of water and gains strength as it begins to flow, crossing through Oxfordshire and Berkshire we hear many local themes along the way until passing the chimes of Big Ben and out to meet the sea.

INTERVAL

First Suite in E flat – Gustav Holst

I Chaconne
II Intermezzo
III March

In 1909, Holst composed the Suite No. 1 in E-flat, a revolutionary piece in that it was written exclusively for wind band. At that time, concert wind band repertoire consisted of reductions of pieces originally scored for orchestras, essentially program music. Holst wanted to make the concert band a serious concert medium, and this piece is seen as the first step in that direction.

Holst was well suited for this role as concert band composer; he played trombone in the Scottish Orchestra and the Carl Rosa Opera Company, and he was well acquainted with the working of wind instruments. It should also be noted that Holst played for seven years as a trombonist for the White Viennese Band. It was a seaside band which claimed to be foreign, and the members even spoke with phony accents, but in actuality, two-thirds of the group was from England. During this time period, audiences were more likely to go to a concert held by a foreign band than a British one. Talk about patriotism!


Igor's Lament - Venetian Spells – Martin Ellerby

Venetian Spells by Martin Ellerby is a suite of 4 movements each paying homage to a composer who has been associated with Venice in the past. It was commissioned by Timothy Reynish and is dedicated to him on the occasion of his fiftieth birthday. Rather like his previous Paris Sketches Ellerby's work pays tribute to a great city and in particular to various composers associated with it. 
The second movement, Pas-de-Deux (Igor’s Lament), is a dedication to the composer Stravinsky and the impresario Diaghilev who are both buried in the island cemetery of San Michele.

Irish Tune from County Derry – Percy Grainger

Australian-born Percy Grainger (1882-1961) was a piano prodigy turned composer who was known for his strange personal habits, his colorful prose, and his equally unusual music.
Irish Tune from County Derry is a setting of a now-famous tune from the Irish county of Derry in the north (also sometimes called Londonderry). This classic arrangement features beautiful, delicate part-writing for both woodwinds and brass, highlighting each family in turn.
While this tune is widely associated with the lyrics “Danny Boy”, it in fact, has a rich history of lyric settings of which “Danny Boy” is a relative latecomer. Another title for the music is “Londonderry Air”

Shepherd's Hey – Percy Grainger

Grainger made several different settings of Shepherd’s Hey, which is based on a folk tune collected by the British folk song expert Cecil Sharp. The tune itself is a Morris dance though Grainger himself insists on his 1913 piano solo score that “This setting is not suitable to dance Morris dances to.”

The March Beyond the Wall - The Legend of the Ninth - Peter Smalley

Much has been written and speculated about what happened to the Roman Ninth Legion. The main theory being that the 5,000 strong unit was lost marching north to Caledonia to put down a rebellion and was the inspiration for the 2011 film The Eagle.
Peter Smalley portrays this legend in this suite and in the opening movement we certainly get a sense of the legions arrival; North of the wall.

Pre Goodman Rag – Malcolm Arnold
Soloist: Colin Giles

Somewhere in Ireland, 1974. The telephone rings. A voice says, “Malcolm? Benny Goodman here.” Malcolm Arnold shouts, “Sod off!” and hangs up – thinking that he was the victim of a prank call. Arnold got another call: “Malcolm, this is Benny. I may be a bit stoned, but I think your concerto is just great!” and thus a great friendship was formed.
Arnold’s second Clarinet Concerto was dedicated to Benny Goodman and first performed by Benny as part of the Red Rocks Music Festival in 1974. The third movement, known as the Pre Goodman Rag is an outrageous ragtime parody with a hauntingly wistful middle section.

Freylachs - Yiddish Dances (Movement 5) – Adam Gorb

Written for Timothy Reynish’s 60th birthday in 1998, Yiddish Dances is very much a party piece. It brings together two of Adam Gorb’s abiding passions: the Symphonic Wind Orchestra and Klezmer – the folk music of the Yiddish-speaking people.
The 5th Movement - Freylachs is a very fast stomp in which themes from the other movements are interwoven, ending in a riotous Yiddish ‘booze-up’ for all concerned.

The Royal Hunt of the Sun - Evocations - Martin Ellerby

Martin Ellerby wrote: "Evocations is cast in four contrasting movements based on Spanish subjects. I have not used any nationalist folk elements but rather alluded to a Spanish atmosphere by means of melody, rhythm, harmony and orchestration filtered through my own listening experiences. The result is more that of an affectionate observer than of a native correspondent."

The Royal Hunt of the Sun which closes the work evokes the spirit of the ritual dances of Spain. The subject matter is a play by Peter Shaffer concerning the conquest of Peru by the Spanish in the 16th century.
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Saturday 18 February 2017

"Check out" how much we raised!

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Colin Giles (L) with Mark Gibson (R), AAURC

Colin Giles (L) with Ivan Brown (R), Bethany Homestead
Following our fantastic Christmas concert, Northampton Concert Band raised a total of £900 to be shared between Abington Avenue United Reformed Church and Bethany Homestead.

Our chairperson, Colin Giles, was delighted to hand over two, unreasonably oversized, cheques for £450 to representatives from both organisations during our rehearsal last week. (Good luck to the person who has to post those over the bank counter)

The Christmas concert was performed in honour of Harold Colman, former conductor of the band, who was fondly remembered at the fundraising event. Harold resided at Bethany Homestead, with his wife Cathy, in his later years and was a regular attendee at church services at Abington Avenue United Reformed Church.

Northampton Concert Band's next concert will be in aid of  Marie Curie on Saturday, 25th March 2017 , 7:30pm at Church of the Holy Sepulchre where we will be performing music composed by masters of British wind band music in a concert entitled "Spring Serenade", conducted by Graham Tear.
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