Black Dyke Band - World Class Marches Of The Salvation Army Vol 3: Festival Marches
STYLE: Brass Band RATING OUR PRODUCT CODE: 117854-18534 LABEL: Doyen 21690 FORMAT: CD Album RELEASE DATE: 2011-09-01 RRP: £13.95
Reviewed by David Faulkner
Use the word "festival" and the typical reader may think of Glastonbury, V or Greenbelt. Here, in Salvation Army parlance, the word has the technical meaning of a sacred concert. Festival marches have been written since the early 20th century and this latest collection covers a representative programme throughout their golden era, right up until 2001. So sacred were these pieces that for decades regulations prohibited them being played in regular Sunday worship. The renowned Black Dyke Mills Band again performs under their conductor, Dr Nicholas Childs (although on one piece, "Faith Is The Victory", he lends the baton to the famed Salvationist musician Stephen Cobb). As is common in these compositions, the writers weave original music in with snatches and rearrangements of hymns. So "Montclair Citadel" contains elements of "Onward, Christian Soldiers", for example. Unsurprisingly, the playing is first class and I noted a wide dynamic range that means if you play this CD in your car you will regularly be tweaking the volume up and down to hear the nuances. As Matthew Cordle rightly said in his review of Volume II, this too is a release for brass band music lovers: others will find 73 minutes to be like a chocolate overdose. But if it is your style, then you can't go wrong.
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Product Description
In Salvation Army music, the word ‘festival’ refers to a sacred concert. ‘Festival’ marches are, therefore, intended for indoor concert use. The first two volumes of Black Dyke Band’s World Class Marches of The Salvation Army series featured marches published in The Salvation Army General Series Brass Band Journal and were suitable for use on parade and indoors at various functions.
This third volume of World Class Marches of The Salvation Army contains marches published in the Festival Series within the 80-year period 1923 to 2003, appearing on this recording in chronological order of publication date. When the Festival Series was launched in 1923, editors chose music designed to meet the needs of advanced bands, those wanting a greater technical challenge. Such has been the hallmark of most festival marches ever since. The range of composers chosen on this recording embraces mostly the modern, post World War II era, though several early examples are included to provide an appropriate historical context.