Newbury ‘feels the force’ as Beenham Wind goes to Hollywood

Beenham Wind Orchestra: Lights, Camera, Orchestra!
at St Nicolas’ Church, Newbury
on Saturday, April 5

Review by TREVOR DEFFERD

Hollywood came to St Nicolas Church on Saturday evening, as the rafters reverberated with the thrilling sound of the Beenham Wind Orchestra.

Dating back to the late 19th century, the alliteratively-named Beenham Band was resurrected in September 1999 and so is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

I had the pleasure of conducting the band in its early days, since which it has tripled in size and was transformed into the rather grander Beenham Wind Orchestra by its previous conductor Robert Roscoe, who was present for their latest concert. The baton is now in the very capable hands of Victoria Benjamin, who presided over an exciting evening of film music.

From the moment the orchestra struck up with the familiar 20th Century Fox theme, the sizeable audience knew it was in for a cinematic treat, as we heard arrangements of excerpts from Chariots of Fire, West Side Story - allowing a quartet of percussionists to show off their considerable skills - and Star Trek, each conjuring up vivid memories of their respective films. A symphonic suite from Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves brought the first half to a rousing close, with triumphant brass hunting calls framing a poignant oboe solo by Will Graham in (Everything I Do) I Do it for You.

A highlight of the evening was the world premiere of Anton Lakes Pulse, for solo tuba and wind orchestra, commissioned from Angel Garcia Martinez for band member Jonathan Hodgetts. Its several contrasting sections allowed the soloist to display both his agility and smooth tone on the instrument. The music was complemented by a display of Jonathan’s breathtaking wildlife photography, which inspired the piece.

More solos followed in the second half, as Victoria Benjamin played a luscious version of Cinema Paradiso on alto saxophone and guest soloist Victoria Stapleton’s violin soared over the orchestra in the heartfelt Theme from Schindler’s List.

Esteemed film composer John Williams, with more than 50 Oscar nominations, was predictably well-represented with music from Harry Potter, awash with magical celeste, glockenspiel and wind chimes, and Star Wars, in which we were invited to ‘feel the force’ of the deliberately discordant brass and fluttering flutes. A medley of Bond themes completed the line-up for this fabulous festival of film music, before a funky version of A Fifth of Beethoven proved a well-deserved encore.