Robin Stevens: Brass Band Odyssey, Mancunian Fanfare and different works; Tredegar City Band, Ian Porthouse; World of Sound
Reviewed 9 December 2025
Not a brass participant himself, Robin Stevens’ music revels within the challenges of writing for brass band and Tredegar City Band do him proud on this new disc
Composer Robin Stevens studied on the Royal Northern Faculty of Music and at Birmingham College with John Joubert. A cellist and trainer by commerce, debilitating sickness took him out of circulation for 17 years. Fortunately totally recovered, he has devoted himself to composition since 2017.
This new disc from Tredegar City Band and Ian Porthouse on World of Sound showcases Robin Stevens’ writing for brass band and for brass devices. In his introduction within the CD booklet, Stevens is candid concerning the challenges of writing for brass devices and brass band: “a composer writing for an instrumental household exterior his or her consolation zone can, doubtlessly not less than, convey an unorthodox freshness of strategy which is conducive to artistic vitality and vitality. As a music-college-trained cellist myself it’s a frequent expertise for me to current a wind or brass participant with a difficult and unconventional passage and be obtained with an preliminary frown or two: then, with goodwill and provides and tackle each side, changes are made to the passage which protect its expressive essence, make it playable and convey into being music which, as a result of it’s not clearly idiomatic, in all probability wouldn’t have been conceived by a composer writing for their very own instrument.“
The disc opens with Brass Odyssey (from 2012-2013) for brass band and eight percussionists. The longest piece on the album, it’s nicely over 20 minutes in length, with Stevens structuring it in two elements, Elegy and In the direction of Rejoicing. It begins in a critical, bleak vein, with Stevens’ use of word clusters giving density to the sound and offering an uncompromising air. There are percussion interjections, however typically his use of the devices is comparatively discreet. Change comes progressively, with moments of color and motion main, finally, to fanfares, but at one level issues collapse right into a bleak solo. Lastly, the music takes off unashamedly, with vivid, busy textures and finally one thing of a swing to the rhythms, main in the end to a terrific clamour.
In full distinction, The Warrior Awakes (from 2011) options only a single tuba, performed right here by Les Neish. Neish’s tuba offers us a heat, vibrant sound as Stevens’ versatile instrumental line strikes progressively from gradual to extra cell with massive leaps and many vitality. Mancunian Fanfare (from 2010) is featured twice on the recording. The primary model is the unique for brass sextet. It could be a fanfare, however there’s something uncompromising about Stevens’ sound world with loads of jagged edges. The spare strains on the opening result in a sooner, vivid conclusion.
Dona Nobis Pacem (from 1994/2024) is for 2 euphoniums and piano (Sion Rhys Jones, Ellie Carlsen, Robin Stevens). Initially, the lyrical euphonium writing contrasts with the extra dramatic piano, however focus stays on the brass devices. The work develops an actual sense of drama, however Stevens’ writing for the euphoniums stays based mostly on long-breathed strains. Rondo alla Berserker (from 2006) is for solo cornet, right here Dewi Griffiths. A comparatively simple rondo, it strikes between jazzy sections and sooner, vivid ones. Three-Approach Dialog (from 2011) is for solo euphonium (Sion Rhys Jones). An explicitly descriptive piece, Stevens’ depicts three completely different characters in dialog. The result’s placing and offers a beautiful showcase for Rhys Jones’ wonderful euphonium taking part in. Cornutopia (from 2010), one other of Stevens’ punning titles, is for 2 French horns (Mary Truthful and Peter Richards). By turns considerate, violent and vivid, the piece offers a wonderful virtuoso show because it places the 2 gamers by way of their paces.
Homage to Dufay (from 2011) is for 2 euphoniums and two basses (Sion Rhys Jones, Ellie Carlsen, Rhys Michael, Ceri Parry Morgan) and was written for the retirement of distinguished musicologist and Dufay specialist Dr David Fallows. The work is a pastiche, and an intriguing one, the sound world shifting between previous and current till, naughtily, Stevens brings in ‘For he is a jolly good fellow’! Supplication (from 2005) for tuba and piano (Les Neish, Colin Druce) is a critical, dramatic piece with actual use being manufactured from the contrasts in timbre and register between the 2 soloists who’re introduced as equals. There’s a related quantity of small-scale drama in Fantasia dramatica (from 2011) for 2 euphoniums (Sion Rhys Jones, Ellie Carlsen); it options simply two instrumental strains, but there may be loads happening. The disc ends with the total brass band model of Mancunian Fanfare created in 2024 with vivid colors and jagged edges to the fore.
The soloists on the disc are a wonderful mixture of gamers. Each Sion Rhys Jones and Ellie Carlsen are members of Tredegar City Band alongside their educating careers, while Dewi Griffiths is the band’s principal cornet and Les Neish has a profession as a solo participant. However greater than something, the disc is a showcase for the band and their willingness to tackle Stevens’ fascinating but difficult music.
Although nothing is claimed within the CD booklet, the disc is one thing of a poignant tribute to Robin Stevens’ whose biographical word on his web site reveals that he’s within the late levels of terminal most cancers.
Robin Stevens: Brass Odyssey – Tredegar City Band, Ian Porthouse – World of Sound WOS176
1. Brass Odyssey – Brass Band and Percussion
2. The Warrior Awakes
3. Mancunian Fanfare (Brass Sextet)
4. Dona Nobi Pacem (Two Euphoniums and Piano)
5. Rondo Alla Berserker
6. Three-Approach Dialog
7. Cornutopia (Two French Horns)
8. Homage to Dufay (Two euphoniums, Eb bass & Bb bass)
9. Supplication (Tuba and Piano)
10. Fantasia Dramatica (Two Euphoniums)
11. Mancunian Fanfare (Full Brass Band Model)
Recorded at Birmingham Conservatoire & Rougement Faculty, Newport, Gwent, Might-July 2025
Obtainable from World of Brass, and on wobplay.
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