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davewerden

CD Review - John Storey, Euphonium

Rating: 4 votes, 5.00 average.
I recently had the privilege of reviewing a new CD of euphonium music. The artist is John Storey, who is principal and solo euphonium with the Coldstream Guards Band in the U.K.

For U.S. readers who are not familiar with this band, it is roughly the equivalent of a U.S. Military Band. There are several wind bands in the Queen's regiments, including:
  • The Grenadier Guards
  • The Coldstream Guards
  • The Scots Guards
  • The Irish Guards
  • The Welsh Guards

In the U.S. our service bands employ some of the best euphonium players in the country, partly because they are among the only full-time professional euphonium gigs in the United States. However, in the U.K. you can find top-notch euphoniumists in their service bands (professional) AND in the brass bands ("amateur"). I find a similarity in style between the two venues, although there are also some differences. I can't define it easily, but I hear it. The players in either type of ensemble still sound "British" to me.

John has been with the band since 1997 and no doubt honed his excellent soloist skills from that experience and from his guest artist performances. For his first solo CD he has chosen a nicely-varied program. The selections alone are ample reason to buy the CD, and may help the listener broaden his/her imagination of what can be done with euphonium in solo and small ensemble settings. But John's skilled playing adds more reason to enjoy the CD. He has a rich, smooth sound and treats the notes as if they all matter - which is what I have come to expect (and enjoy) from U.K. players. I think you will also learn from listening for the subtle differences in style between John and some of the other top soloists who are more brass-band oriented.

As I mentioned above, this a very diverse program, especially because of the accompaniments. You will hear keyboard (Annette Parri), brass band (Seindorf Beaumaris Band), harp (Dylan Cernyw), strings (The Cassian Ensemble), and woodwinds (The Inner-City Woodwind Ensemble). John's great playing and the variety of ensembles with him make this a very enjoyable CD!

The tracks on the CD are:
  1. O Waly Waly, with brass band (arr. Roberts)
  2. Flower Song from Carmen, with keyboard (Bizet/Wilson)
  3. Concerto for Euphonium and Woodwind Octet (Mozart/Scott) sound excerpt
  4. Variations on Rule Britannia, with brass band (Hartmann) sound excerpt
  5. Peace, with Harp (Golland)
  6. Concertino for Euphonium, with keyboard (Wilhelm), Mvt 1
  7. ...Mvt 2
  8. ...Mvt 3
  9. Euphoria, multi-track euphoniums (Newton) sound excerpt
  10. Concertino for Euphonium and String Quartet (Rockey) sound excerpt
  11. 'Neath Dublin Skies', with brass band (Cooper)


Available from euphonium.com:
http://www.euphonium.com/store/tubho...ches-p574.html

Updated 11-23-2021 at 06:54 PM by davewerden

Categories
Euphonium-Tuba Blog , General Tuba-Euphonium Blog , Reviews

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