Derby Central Visit to Harpenden

The Derby Central Band of the Salvation Army (Bandmaster Alan Losh) visited Harpenden on Sunday, 13 November 2005 for a festival concert.

The concert began with Salvation Song (William Gordon), then changed to a more contemplative mood with Keith Wilkinson's arrangement of Be Still. As the band played this piece, Paul Robbins offered a prayer. A particular concern for the band was their bass trombone player, Paul Finnity, who was absent from the performance as he was in hospital. Ian Jeffrey of the Kettering corps played the part for the festival.

The varied program continued with Michael Kenyon's transcription of the overture the The Magic Flute (Mozart). Euphonium soloist Darren Willis presented My Love Is Like a Red, Red Rose (Kenneth Downie). Willis, who has only been in the Derby Central Band for a few months, played this solo on short notice and enhanced the evening's program.

Further contrast in the program was made in the next two pieces, The Fount, composed by the Australian Salvationist Arthur Gullidge, and an arrangement of Graham Kendrick's contemporary Christian song Such Love (arr. Paul Drury). Emma Finnity then offered a personal testimony, stressing the impact of prayer in her personal life. The final item before the intermission was Dean Jones' Glorifico Aeternum.

In the second half of the concert the band featured music from various places around the world, highlighting the international aspect of the Salvation Army's work. Island Dreams (Martyn Scott Thomas) was the first items, followed by a cornet solo played by Jonathan Smith, This Is My Story (Krister Lundkvist). The band showed it's facility with the swing style with Deep River (William Broughton), Three Kings Swing (William Himes) and All to Jesus (Eilav Herikstad).

Moving into the devotional portion of the concert, Andy Ward sang We Are the Reason (David Meece, arr. Richard Phillips), accompanied by the band. This was followed by Scripture read by band sergeant Stuart Pegg, then the band played The Mission (Ennio Morricone). The silence in the hall following these items was an indication of the spiritual power evident in the band's performance.

A continuing feature throughout the festival was the use of multimedia presentation to enhance the performance. The presentation was prepared by James Milner.

The concert concluded with the Latin-flavored suite Las Lluvias Grandes (Peter Graham) and Paul Drury's quick march Jubilee.