Rococo Variations
Steven Mead (euphonium)
Whitburn Band
Andrew Duncan (conductor)
Cameron Murdoch (piano)
Bocchino Music BOCC114
Available from World of Brass, euphonium.net,
Midland CD and 4barsrest
Steven Mead's worldwide reputation as a
euphonium soloist is as impeccable as his diary
is full, with high-profile performances and
recordings across the globe making him among
the busiest and most sought-after products
of the brass band world to emerge in recent
decades. With an outstanding portfolio of
award-winning recordings to his name covering
many of the cornerstones of the euphonium
repertoire, as well as few hidden gems that
he has managed to uncover over the years,
perhaps the greatest ongoing challenge for
such a prolific artist is finding new material
that provides the listener with a balanced and
contrasting experience, while still remaining
musically satisfying. This he does in spades on
Rococo Variations, which he recorded in May
this year, accompanied by Whitburn Band
under Andrew Duncan's assured baton.
Soloist and band announce their considerable
presence in Luc Vertommen's arrangement
of Saint-Saëns' Allegro Appassionato Op. 43
for Cello and Orchestra, with Steven Mead on
characteristic form in this popular work by the
great French composer. Rather more surreal is
the same arranger's version of The Song of the
Birds, a Catalan folk song (also with links to the
cello through its dedicatee, Pablo Casals) based
on a carol that would represent an oasis of calm
in any programme, and this one is no exception,
allowing Steven Mead an opportunity to
demonstrate his absolute control when playing
even the quietest of dynamics.
Continuing with the cello theme, the titular
Variations on a Rococo Theme Op. 33 by
Tchaikovsky is, at over 17 minutes in duration,
the major work on the recording. Featuring the
euphonium in a variety of styles and extending
the band's accompanying skills in no small
way, much of the challenge is in recreating the
approach of the original version, which itself
was an homage to Mozart. Even although it
has often been referred to as the ‘cello of the
brass band', for the euphonium to carry off
such an undertaking along with a brass band
also requires an outstanding arrangement,
and this one by the renowned Swiss exponent
of the instrument, Thomas Ruedi, provides
an appropriate platform for a remarkable
performer to display the many tools in his bag.
Walking on Music, an attractive work in a lighter
style by the Belgian composer, Roger Derongé,
was written for another continental virtuoso,
Stef Pillaert of Brass Band Willebroek, and is
accompanied by lower band only. Vintage, by
the American composer, David Gillingham,
was originally composed for euphonium and
wind orchestra and is here rescored for brass
band and piano accompaniment by Vernon
Briggs. Sitting above a committed backing from
the band, the soloist takes the listener on a
dramatic journey culminating in an extended
cadenza, but somehow still manages to make
it all sound remarkably simple. Another change
of mood comes by way of a tribute to Goff
Richards in the great Cornish composer and
arranger's Pilatus, which was written in 1993 for
Steven Mead himself. Peter Graham's Canaan's
Land, which follows, is another challenging
work written for the Salvationist soloist, Derick
Kane. Again in contrasting moods, the central
lyrical section (A little star peeps o'er the hill) is
played with considerable beauty.
The disc closes as it opened, with two
arrangements by Luc Vertommen - Massenet's
The Last Sleep of the Virgin and Carmen Fantasy
from Bizet's opera. In keeping with the rest of
the programme, contrast is the key and the
long, arching phrases in the former are a perfect
foil for the virtuosic ‘party-piece' that follows.
An excellently engineered product by Richard
Scott and Keith Farrington, this is yet another
‘must have' for, although most certainly
not limited to, all lovers of the euphonium.
With BB's recordings of the year due to be
determined in the next few weeks, this is sure
to be among the main contenders for the solo
award.
Kenneth Crookston