Tredegar to Celebrate 150th Anniversary of Vaughan Williams
Welsh champion Tredegar has announced that it will be working alongside renowned English National Opera Music Director Martyn Brabbins to mark the 150th anniversary of his birth of composer Ralph Vaughan Williams with a major new recording project. 'Vaughan Williams on Brass' will be recorded in December this year on the Albion Recording label with a release date scheduled for September 2022.
Commenting on the project, producer Paul Hindmarsh stated, "Vaughan Williams was a late convert to brass bands. He composed the Shakespearian overture 'Henry V' at the age of 60 and it was a further 20 years before, in his 80s, he wrote for brass band again. In 1953, he was captivated by the expressive sound and musical conviction of the International Staff Band of The Salvation Army and agreed to write something for them: 'Prelude on Three Welsh Hymn Tunes' was the result. Four years later his masterpiece for the medium, 'Variations for Brass Band', was commissioned for the 1957 National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain."
As well as these significant original works, the recording will also feature the composer's work based on hymn tunes, traditional carols and folk songs, with Phillip Littlemore skilfully arranging new versions of 'English Folk Song Suite' and 'Sea Songs'.
Speaking about the band’s involvement in the project, Tredegar's Musical Director Ian Porthouse explained, "This important artistic project has been masterminded by Paul Hindmarsh to enable the brass band movement to provide its own stamp of musical identity to the 150th anniversary celebrations of the composer's birth. The level of interest in, and support for this project underlines the importance of Vaughan Williams to the brass band movement. We are thrilled to be involved and to link up with Martyn Brabbins for what is sure to be a memorable recording."
'Vaughan Williams on Brass' has been made possible by the generous support of The Vaughan Williams Charitable Trust, and Lord and Lady Kinnock, with additional funding from Timbercroft Publishing, PHM Publishing and Buffet-Crampon. Thanks are due also to publishers Faber Music Ltd. and Stainer & Bell Ltd. for supplying performing material.
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