Camborne Band & Cornwall Youth Brass Ensemble
Conductors: Kevin Mackenzie & Gareth Churcher
St Ives Guildhall, St Ives, Cornwall
Friday 28th June 2013
The Camborne Band and the Cornwall Youth Brass Ensemble performed at this special concert at the Guildhall in St Ives to mark the centenary of the birth of composer George Lloyd.
Performed on the actual day of his birth, the event was attended by the Mayor of St Ives as well as members of the Lloyd family, including his nephew, William Lloyd. Despite being inspired by the sound of the St Ives Salvation Army Band as a young boy, it was many years before George Lloyd started to compose his now well loved and popular works for brass band.
Camborne, conducted by newly appointed MD Kevin Mackenzie, started in fine style with the march ‘HMS Trinidad’ composed when Lloyd he was a cornet player in the Royal Marine Band aboard the ship that bore the name. The band’s other major contribution was their performance of ‘Royal Parks’, written for the 1985 European Championship in Copenhagen. The second movement ‘In Memoriam’ is particularly poignant; written in memory of the young military bandsmen killed in a terrorist bomb attack in Regents Park in 1982 – so close to George Lloyd’s home that he heard the explosion.
In addition, Camborne marked the centenary of Benjamin Britten’s birth by playing an arrangement of his ‘The Spider and the Fly’, and also gave a spirited performance of another centenary celebrating work, ‘Labour and Love’ by Percy Fletcher. Principal cornet, Darren Hendy entranced the audience with his performance of ‘Londonderry Air’ and the band joined forces with the Cornwall Youth Brass Ensemble for a fine ‘Festmusik der Stadt Wein’ by Richard Strauss.
The ensemble, conducted by Gareth Churcher, also played movements from George Lloyd’s two orchestral brass compositions; ‘Miniature Triptych’ and his ‘10th Symphony’ – ‘November Journeys’, as well as a selection of lighter items. Speaking on behalf of the large audience, William Lloyd thanked the performers for their efforts in celebrating his uncle’s music in such an enthusiastic manner, and making the actual day of his centenary such a memorable one, just yards from his birthplace in the Cornish town.
