CD REVIEW -
SHIFT
PETER MOORE
TRADEGAR BAND / IAN PORTHOUSE
CHANDOS CHSA 5366
[TT 66:38]
Here is another
treat for brass band buffs. Peter
Moore was born on 1 January 1996
in Belfast and brought up in
Greater Manchester. At only 12
years old he won the BBC Young
Musician of the Year Award –
the youngest winner to date. In
2014 the London Symphony
Orchestra appointed him as its
co-principal trombonist, at 18
the youngest member ever. He
remained with them for ten years
before leaving to focus on his
solo career, and is currently a
professor at the Royal Academy of
Music in London.
Immediately
appealing to your reviewer are
arrangements of Annie Laurie,
the hymn tune Blessed
Assurance, George Bassman's I'm
Getting' Sentimental over You
and the traditional
African-American spiritual Nobody
Knows the Trouble I See.
Gordon Langford's
(1930-2017) Rhapsody for
Trombone is a highly
enjoyable listen first performed
– and I believe written for
him – in 1975 by the Ted
Heath Band alumnus, the brilliant
Don Lusher.
Eric Leidzén
(1894-1962) was a Swedish
composer who worked almost
exclusively for the Salvation
Army and, although he evidently
had a bit of a falling out with
one of their senior officers, his
1952 Concertino for Band and
Trombone takes its musical
material from two old hymns.
The eponymous
album title is a premiere
recording of a Concerto written
for Moore in c 2012 by Simon
Dobson (b 1981). In his engaging
booklet notes, with their
informative introduction, Dudley
Bright (himself a past top
principal trombonist) describes
Dobson's music as
"challenging for performers
and listeners alike". See
what you think!
The programme's
closing item is Sambezi,
a cheery Symphonic Samba, the
last movement of a trombone
concerto from c 2007 by Philip
Sparke (b 1951), a prolific brass
band composer.
The trombonist's
gorgeous playing is excellently
supported throughout by the Welsh
band, one of the most famous and
successful in the world with over
150 years heritage, their sound
enhanced by the usual fine
Chandos recording. They play
under their conductor, Ian
Porthouse, also a big name in the
brass band world.
An altogether
all-round recommended album that
gives a lot of pleasure.
©
Peter Burt, March 2025
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