On a cold Saturday afternoon on 14th January the Band returned to Eaton Bray for the New Year Concert, which has become something of a fixture in the calendar. Pleasingly the audience nearly filled St Mary’s Church ready to be entertained. As in last year’s concert, the Band opened with The Ancient and Honourable Artillery Company march by Sousa, with the tune of Auld Lang Syne as its trio, then in complete contrast played a selection from West Side Story. Then Rupert Johnston reprised his performance last November of the last movement of Mozart’s horn concerto no. 2, accompanied by the band. After the Toccata in D minor by J.S. Bach and two movements from Vaughan Williams’ English Folk Song Suite, Erica Miller was the alto saxophone soloist in the Romance from “The Gadfly” by Shostakovitch, arranged by Ed Keeley. The trumpet section featured next in Bill Bailey, and the Band brought the first half to a rousing conclusion with the 2nd half of Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes from Saint-Saens 3rd Symphony (the “Organ Symphony”) by Philip Sparke.
During the interval we were served welcome cups of tea and coffee, then the second half began with Finlandia by Sibelius. After a selection from the Disney film of Aladdin, the Band played three movements from The Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saens, The Elephant, Fossils, and the Finale. A quiet interlude followed, A Winter’s Tale by Philip Sparke, after which we were off to Ireland with Gaelforce by Peter Graham. Inevitably the concert finished with The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss, arranged for band by Rob Wiffin.
Or not quite. The organiser thanked the band and the audience for coming, and asked if they would like to hear us again next year, which brought a resounding “yes”. There are plans to include the band in celebrating the church’s 800th anniversary. Of course, this demanded an encore, and the Band played the Radetzky March by Johann Strauss.