Mountbatten Festival 2016

On 9 April 2016, Guards military musician, Nick Walkley, slipped into his seat in the venerable Royal Albert Hall, London on 9 April to witness the sheer glamour and spectacle with not a little homage of the Massed Bands of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines present the Mountbatten Festival

In the presence of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, the Massed Bands of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines took to the stage in front of a fully filled Royal Albert Hall. This was the eagerly anticipated final night of the annual Mountbatten Festival, an internationally renowned military band performance, which had begun in the days of Sir Malcolm Sargent’s advisory role with the service.

Fourteen fanfare trumpets heralded the start of the evening with the National Anthem, followed straight away by Bruce Broughton’s breathtaking Silverado. Thirty buglers then entered the arena floor to add precision drill and well-tuned harmonies to Band Colour Sergeant Gareth Keachie’s march The Grand Fleet, the first of a number of works written to commemorate the Battle of Jutland in 1916. This opening sequence was rounded off in theatrical style with Led Zepplin’s Kashmir, complete with strings, electric guitars and spectacular lighting.

The Royal Marines Corps of Drums are by reputation one of the most impressive and mesmerising to watch and were featured in Anzac Cove and Clash of the Dreadnoughts. In this traditional segment, the band then continued with Alford’s The Great Little Army and Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, displaying accomplished musicianship all round.

The first half concluded with a showcase of individual talents. Piazzolla’s melodic Libertango featured both Musician Alice Hudson and Band Corporal Mark Upton on violin and trumpet respectively, before Band Corporal Matt Bowditch gave a sensitive rendition of Josh Groban’s February Song. A comedic number was provided by the percussion section in Lizsteria, featuring Band Corporal Michael Smith and Musician Joe Kemp as master and apprentice, and dressed accordingly! This was rounded off by Thriller, a medley of Michael Jackson songs featuring some superb soloists. Band Corporal Mark Upton made a welcome reappearance in Earth Song, whilst Band Colour Sergeant Gordon Carter’s tenor saxophone was a highlight in She’s out of my life. Bad was the vehicle for Musician Barrie Woolley to shine on Alto Saxophone before Thriller sent us in to the interval.

A big band opened the second half in a lighter foot-tapping mood. Band Corporal Brian Lloyd and was in fine voice in As long as I’m singing, and so too was Band Corporal Ellie Lomas in Feelin’ Good. The Corps of Drums returned for a ‘futuristic’ themed item entitled All is Hell that Ends Well with drummers in robot costumes lit with LEDs. The march Soldiers of the Sea brought us back to traditional ways, followed with Fantasia; a tribute to Disney with a special arrangement of the orchestral music used in the 1940 film. These classic scores provided great opportunity for the band’s woodwind section in particular to shine.

A new commission from Michael McDermott featured as the grand finale, simply titled Jutland. Complete with synchronised video projection, the piece told the story of the one of the most devastating naval battles in history. After all the evening’s lighter entertainment, this feature served also to inform and pay homage, as a duty to remember those who have made great sacrifices for their country. Here the importance of the Band Service’s role in society was underlined, as indeed was military music generally.

There were a considerable number of veterans present at the concert, who had an opportunity to show themselves off by standing proudly to the playing of their particular regimental march, as the band signed off for the evening. It was wonderful to see them enjoying this great spectacle all the more for the personal significance it had to them and a reminder of what this event means to so many.

As traditional band concerts go, this is ‘the daddy’ of them all; an awesome spectacle in an iconic venue and a demonstration of the immense capability of one of this country’s most respected military music services.

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