Program No. 69 - George Lloyd

George Lloyd would not be considered one of the most prolific composer of music for brass bands, nor did he solely concentrate on brass band music. His brass works, though, are considered part of the standard repertoire of brass band contesting works, and have been since his first brass band composition in the mid 1980's.

Born in Cornwall in 1913, Lloyd was brought up in a very musical family with his father an accomplished flautist and his mother able to play violin, viola and piano.  He started composing music when he as 9 years old, with serious study of composition when he was 14.

Over his musical career he penned no less than 12 symphonies, 7 concertos, and a variety of other works for voice, piano, orchestra, and of course brass bands.

Lloyd wasn't just a composer, though. During the second World War Lloyd joined the Royal Marines, as a cornet player in their band. During one voyage in 1942, as a result of tragic accident, the ship he was on (the HMS Trinidad) torpedoed itself, and many lives were lost in that incident. Lloyd himself was hospitalised for a number of years with what would now be called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He eventually recovered and was discharged in 1946.

Until 1972 he owned and operated a market garden where he grew mushrooms and carnations. During this time he continued composing, mostly before work started. After he sold his business he spent his remainder years composing a large number of his works, including all his brass band pieces. He passed away in 1998, aged 85.

1. H.M.S. Trinidad March (John Foster Black Dyke Mills Band)
We begin tonight with a march composed by Lloyd in 1941 for the ship he sailed on, H.M.S. Trinidad. This, together with a number of other works on the show, comes from a 1991 album released by the John Foster Black Dyke Mills Band, with David King as conductor, called Lloyd: English Heritage.

2. Symphony No. 10 'November Journeys' (Cory Band)

'When the BBC told me they would like me to write a piece for the Northern Brass Ensemble it so happened that about that time I was taking advantage of some cheap rail fares to visit various cathedrals I had never seen before. As I journeyed around the country I kept on thinking of sounds for the brass and these sounds became mixed up with the magnificent buildings I was seeing ; this led me eventually to write on the score ‘Impressions and reflections whilst travelling to visit some cathedrals’. There is nothing very ecclesiastic about the music except for the second movement, which is rather like a carol. I was able to have any combination of instruments I chose, so in order to achieve flexibility together with soft and bright sounds, I scored the work for 1 Piccolo Trumpet, 3 B Flat Trumpets, 1 Flugelhorn, 3 Horns, 3 Trombones, 1 Euphonium, 1 Tuba.’           George Lloyd (30 March 1981) 

This work was subsequently transcribed for Brass Band by Luc Vertommen. It is being performed here by Cory Band, with Dr. Robert Childs as conductor, from their 2008 album, Actaeon.

3. Royal Parks (John Foster Black Dyke Mills Band)
This was the first of the main works written for brass band by Lloyd (1984), actually written for the 1985 European Band Championships in Copenhagen. This piece is in 3 movements. The following description is from a distinguished brass band conductor here in Melbourne.

•  Dawn Flights - military bandsmen are heading to a band performance in Regents Park. The "dawn flights" are the actual flights to this gig.

• In Memoriam - The IRA bombed the bandstand on 20th July 1982, killing seven soldiers and injuring 24 others during a concert by the band of the Royal Green Jackets. The bandstand is sometimes called the "Memorial Bandstand" in memory of the dead soldiers. Lloyd actually lived nearby and heard the explosion.

• Holidays - After this horrific event, the rest of the band are told to take some time off. This movement depicts the members attempting to take a holiday, but with the events of that day never far from their mind.

This performance is again from the album Lloyd: English Heritage.

4. Diversions on a Bass Theme (Oslofjord Brass)
The story goes that apparently complaints were made to Lloyd because Royal Parks was considered to be too easy for brass bands contests at the highest level. Lloyd thought to himself "I'll show them" and 2 years later Diversions on a Bass Theme was finished. Whether or not this is true is not that important, however it is true that this piece is a huge contrast to Royal Parks. The Bass Theme not only refers to the Bass end of the band, but also to the company that sponsored the work, Bass Brewery.

This performance is by Oslfjord Brass, from the 1997 Norwegian Brass Band Championships.

5. English Heritage (Black Dyke Band)

"The piece was commissioned by Michael Walker for the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England – hence its title ‘English Heritage’ and was first performed jointly by Black Dyke and Grimethorpe Colliery, conducted by Geoffrey Brand at a Kenwood Lakeside Concert on 2nd July 1988 in the presence of the composer. Two years later it was chosen as the set work for the National Finals at the Royal Albert Hall, where the then CWS (Glasgow) Band conducted by John Hudson took the title." 4barsrest.com

This performance is by Black Dyke Band, from the 2010 Regional Contests.

6. Evening Song (John Foster Black Dyke Mills Band)
Interestingly, most reviews of Lloyd's brass band works seem to fail to mention this piece. But it is in a definitive list of works by Lloyd found here. It's also on the album Lloyd: English Heritage that we have already heard from. There isn't much else I can add, except for the fact that it was composed in 1991.

7. King's Messenger (Cory Band)
Cory Band were recently in Australia, and performed this piece in the concerts out here. This was Lloyd's final composition for brass band having composed it in 1993, aged 80. This piece is also why this program wasn't heard originally as intended a fortnight ago. The album that this is on, Words and Music, by Cory Band with Philip Harper as conductor, was only released just over a week ago.

I hope you enjoyed tonight's look at brass works by George Lloyd.

We've spent a fair bit of time over the last month or so listening to brass band music. We'll move away from that as next week's show will feature music performed by American trumpeter, Chris Botti.