London and Provincial Music

It is very rare that I venture out to a village on a Sunday. Normally, there is enough going on in the parks for there to be a choice of several events without even thinking about it. For some reason, though, July 4th is exceptionally weak. There are good bands in Eastbourne and Hunstanton today, and of course these places have other attractions to offer as well, but in the more local parks there is nothing. Although a trip to the seaside is never a bad idea, the Great Horwood Silver Band event in Cheddington potentially has a lot to offer.

For a start, this is a band worth listening to. I discovered them two years ago at the Aston Clinton fete, and heard them again last year at Granborough. The countryside around Cheddington is some of the best in Great Britain. When I heard this band play at Aston Clinton, I got off the train at Cheddington station and walked the seven miles through some of the most unspoilt countryside I have seen. Remember Bernard Miles? This was his part of the world. I’ve got a couple of his 78rpm records where he mentions several places not far from here.

The availability of the railway station is crucial for this event. Very few omnibus (road tortoise) “services” run on Sundays, making village trips virtually impossible unless you are very lucky. Had this event been in any of the other villages that the band are playing in this season, I would probably have ended up in Eastbourne or Hunstanton instead. Not that I am a wimp or incapable of walking. There are a couple of village fetes in Northamptonshire which demand a fourteen and sixteen mile walk respectively to reach them, and another one to get back home again. I have never found this to be a huge problem.

Cheddington station is an extraordinary anomaly in the modern Britain largely devoid of infrastructure. It is not even that near to the village after which it is named, and I am really at a loss to explain why it has survived. I’m glad it has, though. I shan’t be reliving my walk through Long Marston and Puttenham today, as I turn immediately left to visit Cheddington proper for the first ever time.

It is typical of many a village in rural England. I can only admire the householders in these places who take such time over maintaining aesthetic gardens resplendent with colour, and wonder where on earth they find the time. I couldn’t spare enough time to keep the weeds out of a teacup. These villages seem to keep their traditional feel and atmosphere, to the visitor at least. I could easily live in such a place, if it had not been for the government sponsored vandalism of our beloved infrastructure in the 1960s and beyond, which have left such places deserted and wanting.

I spend a couple of hours walking through Cheddington, and very pleasing it is too. The one thing which amazes me is that I don’t find a general stores or post office anywhere. Surely there must be one somewhere? Breakfast and now lunch have to be foregone, but I suspect the event itself will find a way to fill the hole. The Green is easy to find, centrally located, and by it is the one feature I always seek out in every place I visit – the War Memorial.

This event is one of a series of AVDC Perfect Village Sunday events. The AVDC refers not to a misspelled electricity converter, but to Aylesbury Vale District Council. Great Horwood Silver Band is a regular at these events, and gives great service I have no doubt. The music starts right on time, and there are plenty of highlights. Early on we are treated to “Le Cygne”, by Saint-Saens, which is nearly always played as a Euphonium solo. The last time I heard it live was in Hunstanton last year, by the Rushden Mission Band on the best summer’s day of the year. Today, we hear a different arrangement which I had not heard before, with the cornets in the lead role.

The cornet solo of the day was “Sugar Blues”, with very much a jazz feel to it. I had heard this before, but not for five and a half years. There was plenty of variety on offer today, surely something for everyone. Later, a minuet from a Boccherini string quartet was given the brass band treatment. We hear so many people saying that brass band music is heavy, and the lightness of many classical pieces will not transfer. I think they are totally wrong.

The Boccherini works really well. Earlier in the year Daventry Brass played an arrangement of Barber’s “Adagio For Strings” from his string quartet in B Minor Op 11 at a village fete. It really is gladdening to the heart to hear the bands playing this high quality music and not just relying on easy to play popular pieces. I still want to hear all of Mozart’s string quartets played by brass ensembles. Especially the one in G Major, K387, and the andante from the D Major quartet K575.

Speaking of Mozart, his themes are used in the piece “Young Amadeus” which we often hear, and which was brought out today. Specifically, the Adagio from the clarinet concerto K622. There is also a solo in the second half, by coincidence the same flugel horn arrangement of “Misty” which was played by Ilkeston Brass last Sunday in the Nottingham Arboretum. It bears repeated listening, and is played exceptionally well today.

As if we had not been treated to a fine enough program already, the band then gave us Chopin in his 200th anniversary year. It was my favourite of all Chopin’s pieces, the Etude Op 10 No 3, another gentle and melodious piece proving again the total versatility which brass bands can bring. I was impressed with Great Horwood Silver Band on the two previous occasions I had heard them, but they completely excelled themselves today. I would love to hear how they would handle the full three hour job in Northampton’s Abington Park, and if I was running that season this performance would be more than good enough to get them the chance.

That is one of our perennial problems. How many of the councillors who organize (I should say attempt to organize) the season in Abington Park were here today? How many are even ever in the park? How are they supposed to make the right choices about which bands to book when they don’t have access to the right information. Perhaps they should start listening to people who do?

Speaking of Northampton Bummer Clowncil, I thought about them today. During the band’s break, the local children were entertained by a clown. At this point, I thought of Northampton Bummer Clowncil. I’ll leave you to work out why.

I get an incredible bonus at the end courtesy of some very kind people in the band. A lift to Cheddington station may seem a small favour, but it allows me to catch the 16:35 instead of the 17:35 I had expected to catch, saving me a whole hour. Many thanks for that, it was very helpful indeed.

I am now finished with village events for the year, apart from the old stalwart at Everdon on the August Bank Holiday Monday. This year has been exceptional by any standards. The best events in the calendar have all avoided each other, the rain has stayed away, and the music has been wonderful. Now, the Saturday events move to St. James’s Park, and the line up there promises to be even stronger. This has the potential to be the greatest season ever, even if I have had to travel and work for it.

I wish I could hear Great Horwood Silver Band again, and I would really like to go back to Aston Clinton. It won’t happen, because the very strong East London Brass have been booked for St. James’s Park on the same day, just as they were last year. There is one more faint possibility in September, but I never plan that far ahead at this stage. Get to the end of August, and then I think again.

The weather has been incredibly kind to us this year, and this weekend has been no exception. Long may our luck continue. We need to ride it while we can, and make the most of every glorious day we are given. We certainly made the best of this one, thanks to Great Horwood Silver Band.