Former Staff Bandmasters Unite for CSB Anniversary Festival
From left, Colonel Robert Redhead, Lt-Colonel Norman Bearcroft, Brian Burditt

To kick off the evening, the massed bands played Leslie Condon’s festival march “Celebration,” which set the tone for an evening of fine music making. Then, following opening remarks by Major Ron Millar, CSB executive officer, the audience rose to join in a sparkling new arrangement of “Come, let us all unite to sing” by Major Kenneth Smith, written especially for the occasion.

For its first solo item, the CSB reached back into the repertoire of years past, giving a stirring rendition of Eric Ball’s classic tone poem, “The Triumph of Peace.” In his remarks that followed, Bandmaster Burditt explained the concept for the evening and welcomed the various guest soloists and composers in attendance. These included CSB alumni Curtis Metcalf (euphonium) and Robert Merritt (trombone), along with composers Major Ken Smith, a present member of the band, and two former staff bandmasters, Lt-Colonel Norman Bearcroft and Colonel Robert Redhead. With these luminaries in attendance it was clear that we were in for an exciting evening.
Lt-Colonel Norman Bearcroft spoke about how he re-formed the Canadian Staff Band in 1969, including the retelling of some humorous incidents from the early days as only he can do. He then conducted the Ontario Central Reservist Band in his own cornet feature, “Over Here and Over There,” a light-hearted item featuring popular wartime melodies from both sides of the Atlantic, alluding to the fact that he now divides his time between England and the United States. It was interesting to note the inclusion of two CSB alumni in the quartet, Deryck Diffey and Gary Dean.
Curtis Metcalf then introduced his solo item, “Euphony” by Robert Redhead. He explained that the reason he chose this particular solo was that it was a piece that broke new ground for the euphonium and helped move the art form forward. Originally written for euphonium legend Wilf Mountain, the composer had rescored the solo with band accompaniment for Curtis to feature on the CSB’s tour of Europe in 1979. His scintillating performance that followed only this introduction reinforced the fact that Curtis has firmly established himself as one of the greats of his generation.

Major Ken Smith had been asked to write a new work to be presented by Impact Brass and, as one would expect, the piece was based on a selection of contemporary praise and worship songs. Entitled “Lift Jesus High” and conducted by the composer, the piece started with “We want to see Jesus lifted high,” then moved into a more reflective middle section with “I exalt Thee” and “I sing praises to your name, O Lord.” Following a reprise of the opening thematic material, the music then built to an exciting conclusion. Based on this presentation by Impact Brass, who rose to the occasion in their performance, the future of Army banding looks bright indeed.

To conclude the first half, the audience was treated to another new work from the pen of Lt-Colonel Norman Bearcroft, “The Power and the Glory.” Set in three movements and based on the death and resurrection of Jesus, the work is quite involved and presented a challenge for the Ontario Central Reservist Band. The middle movement is based on the composer’s own setting to words by Catherine Baird, one of the Army’s great poets. Multimedia screen presentations were used effectively to help the audience catch the significance of the words. The work finished with a majestic treatment of the hymn, “The head that once was crowned with thorns is crowned with glory now” (St. Magnus). Colonel Bearcroft conducted the band through a confident reading of this challenging music.

Impact Brass started the second half with Ian Robinson’s arrangement of the Andrae Crouch song, “Soon and Very Soon,” conducted by B/M Ken Bailey. The spotlight was then turned on one of the CSB’s current soloists, as Staff Bandsman Andrew Poirier stepped forward to give a brilliant performance of Leslie Condon’s major work for trombone and band, “Song of Exuberance.” This was followed by the CSB playing three movements from Peter Graham’s expansive work, “Windows of the World” (“Amazonia,” “The Rising Sun” and “Earth-Walk”).

The mood was changed again as Robert Merritt was introduced to play a solo that he has made his own - Norman Bearcroft’s lovely “The Word of Grace.” Bob had played this solo at London’s Royal Albert Hall during the CSB’s first tour of Britain in 1974. Though he is now obviously getting on in years, time seemed to stand still as he played in his own inimitable style, accompanied by the present-day staff band. After a moment’s silence, the crowd erupted in thunderous applause and a standing ovation. It was a fitting tribute - not only to one of the Army’s great musicians, but also to Bob Merritt the man and his Christian witness over the years.

Following words of Scripture and comments from Major Ron Millar, Colonel Robert Redhead introduced his new piece, “Back to the Future,” before leading the CSB in its world premiere. The work attempts to look back at the past, through to the present and on into the future. The composer reflects back to the early beginnings of the Judeo-Christian tradition, using the hymns “The God of Abraham Praise” and “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” The Reformation is referenced with part of Martin Luther’s “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” followed by a brief nod to the Wesleyan era (out of which came The Salvation Army) with a fragment of “Amazing Love, How Can It Be?” (Cardiff). The music subsides after this busy section, then a very poignant moment is created. As the band plays a series of chord progressions building from pianissimo to fortissimo, we hear the voice of General William Booth (effectively rendered by Staff Bandsman Stuart Cornie, media producer) in words from a famous speech given just months before his death in 1912: “While women weep … I’ll fight!” This in turn leads into a contemporary setting of these words by Australian Salvationist Nathan Rowe, followed by an original song by Robert and Gwenyth Redhead, “To the Glory and Praise of God,” which brings the work to a triumphant conclusion. Although more reflective in nature than some of Redhead’s previous works, the music is skillfully put together - as we have come to expect from this master craftsman - and was well received by the appreciative audience.

At the conclusion of this inspirational presentation, Colonel Redhead remained on stage to lead the massed bands through James Merritt’s old festival march, “The Canadian.” Having been played by massed corps bands to march in the newly formed Canadian Staff Band at its inaugural festival in January 1969, its performance brought another memorable anniversary concert to a thrilling conclusion.

By Staff Bandsman Stan Ewing