Editor’s note: The Fox Valley Brass Band/Des Plaines Community Band concert on March 22 in Des Plaines has been postponed to a date to be announced at a later time.
If you’ve never experienced a true brass band before, here’s your chance.
The Fox Valley Brass Band will join the Des Plaines Community Concert Band for its concert at 3 p.m. March 22 at the Prairie Lakes Theater in Des Plaines, offering concertgoers a sampling of the unique and powerful sounds of a traditional brass band.
“We utilize some instruments that the audience may have never seen, such as the tenor horn, the true English baritone and the soprano cornet,” said Thomas Bough, music director of the Fox Valley Brass Band.
“We utilize other instruments, like cornets, flugelhorns and euphoniums that the audience may be familiar with, however the brass band utilizes those instruments in new ways.” For example, the euphonium is one of the two most prominent melodic voices, alongside the lead cornet, Bough explained, while in the concert band world, the euphonium is often just a background voice.
“The other really special thing about a brass band is the wonderful music available,” Bough said. “There are thousands of pieces of truly interesting, artistic pieces of original music written for brass band, which are largely unknown in this country. We look forward to sharing just a few of these with our audience.”
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The brass band will be performing “Bridgewater Intrada” by Scottish composer Kenneth Downie, “Attleborough Suite” by English composer Malcolm Arnold, and “Rigaudon” arranged by American composer William Himes. The band also will premiere Bough’s own arrangement of “Feierlicher Einzug” by German composer Richard Strauss.
“The works were chosen to represent the spectrum of brass band performance tradition,” Bough said. “The first two pieces were originally written for brass band, with its unique combination of brass and percussion instruments.”
“Bridgewater Intrada” was penned by Downie in 1996.
“The ‘Intrada’ is a dramatic fanfare that displays the technical virtuosity of the brass band, which is an important part of our tradition,” Bough said. “The audience will hear lots of really fast notes, both moving in scale patterns and using the ‘triple tongue’ pattern to play lots of fast versions of a single note.”
“Attleborough Suite” was composed by Arnold in 1961.
“The Arnold piece is more traditional brass band music from an earlier generation but still brings to light some of the unique voices in the brass band sound palette,” Bough said.
The third piece, “Rigaudon,” is drawn from the Baroque period, dating back to the 17th century.
“It sounds like music written for organ but is expertly arranged for brass band by one of the true giants in the field of brass band music, William Himes,” Bough said. “This music allows the band to show off the beautiful blending of sounds we can achieve in this type of music. The musical contrast, drawn from centuries ago, brings a lovely interlude to the performance.”
The band also will debut Bough’s new arrangement of “Feierlicher Einzug.”
“Our final piece by Strauss combines the tonal beauty of the third piece with the power and majesty typical of a brass ensemble,” Bough said. “Strauss wrote this music for 15 trumpets, plus four French horns, trombones, tuba and timpani, which is pretty close to the actual instrumentation of the brass band.
“I truly enjoyed the opportunity to arrange this music specifically for the members of the Fox Valley Brass Band.”
Sponsored by the Des Plaines Park District and led by Al Legutki, the Des Plaines Community Concert Band’s performance will include “Simple Song” by American composer Leonard Bernstein, “Song and Legend” by Japanese composer Eiji Suzuki, “A Festival Prelude” by American composer Alfred Reed, “Illuminate” by English composer Andrew Wainwright, and music by American band Earth, Wind & Fire.
Bough and Legutki are colleagues and friends who have been looking for a chance to collaborate with their respective bands.
“The combined forces of our two groups will perform the William Himes arrangement of ‘Amazing Grace’ as a finale for the concert,” Bough said. “We know this piece very well and have used it several times before to collaborate with other concert bands in the area.”
The Fox Valley Brass Band is part of the Fox Valley Music Consortium, which is home to the Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra, several choruses, jazz ensembles and an El Sistema Program.
“Unlike a concert band where the number of instruments can vary in size, the instrumentation of a brass band is relatively constant, therefore we typically perform with 28 to 30 members,” said Bough, who has been the brass band’s leader since its inception three years ago.
“Our mission is to provide performance opportunities and training for brass and percussion players, utilizing the wide spectrum of music available within the brass band tradition.”
Fox Valley Brass Band/Des Plaines Community Concert Band
When: 3 p.m. March 22
Where: Prairie Lakes Theater, 1515 E. Thacker St., Des Plaines
Tickets: $0-$15
Information: 630-891-2527; foxvalleybrassband.org
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Jen Banowetz is a freelance reporter for the Beacon-News.