The high gleam of five tubas, bells up, held at a tilt as if choreographed, each player almost hidden behind an expanse of shining brass. This is the image I will carry from Tredegar Band’s thrilling performances at two BBC Proms. In orchestral concerts, the phrase “bells up” has a specific meaning, used especially in a Mahler symphony, when the french horns are instructed to play with instruments raised to achieve a visual and aural climax. In a brass band, that spectacle is part of its very nature: cornets, flugelhorns, tenor and baritone horns, euphoniums and, lowest of all, tubas, a bobbing sea of coiled pipes, valves, pistons, playing as one. If the band is world class, as in the case of this prize-winning Welsh ensemble, its performance will have subtlety, precision and rock-steady discipline.
On Monday, the band, founded in 1876, collaborated with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and conductor Ryan Bancroft to give the world premiere of Concerto Grosso by Gavin Higgins. The composer grew up in an ex-mining community, playing in bands, and understands the idiom and range. In five movements, this ingenious work united the two soundworlds and drew on the best-known brass styles: fanfares, expressive chorales and breakneck, contest-style virtuosity. In Tuesday’s late-night Prom, the band were led by Ian Porthouse, their inspirational conductor for the past 14 years. Music ranged from Richard Strauss to a Judy Garland medley via Vaughan Williams, encapsulating a short history of brass band music in the process.
