On Saturday 9th May the Band presented its Spring Concert at Holy Trinity Church, Walton Street, Aylesbury, to a respectably, if modestly sized audience. Naturally we’d prefer to play to a full house, but building a regular audience of any size is a long task.
Conductor Robert Wicks had assembled a mixed programme ranging from classic works for wind band to modern musicals, from film themes to opera and ballet. Here is the complete programme:–
Part 1
- Trailblaze by Goff Richards, a lively work new to the Band.
- Overture: The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart, arr. W J Duthoit.
- Chaconne and March, the first and third movements of the First Suite in E♭ by Gustav Holst.
- Selections from the musical Wicked by Stephen Schwartz, arr. Jay Bocook.
- The Flower Duet from the opera Lakmé by Léo Delibes, arranged by James Curnow, with soloists Alison Lovatt, flute, and Alison Swindles, oboe.
- Music from the film Jurassic Park by John Williams, arr. Paul Lavender.
Part 2
- Norwegian Rondo by Philip Sparke.
- No. 1 from Three Dance Episodes from the ballet Spartacus by Aram Khachaturian, arr. Hunsberger.
- Harlech Variants, an original work for band by Duncan Stubbs based on the traditional song Men of Harlech.
- Lord Tullamore by Carl Wittrock.
- And finally, in recognition of the 70th anniversary of VE Day celebrating the end of the war in Europe, The Dambusters by Eric Coates, arr. W J Duthoit.
Something there for all tastes, though perhaps not everything was to everyone’s taste. Nevertheless I think the audience enjoyed the concert on the whole and would have liked an encore, if we had prepared one.
Now summer is approaching, time to prepare for the usual engagements at fêtes and bandstands.