PAUL LOVATT-COOPER

Walking with Heroes In writing this review, I have in mind the person who - like myself - is not a brass band afficionado, but one who may have a mind open enough to give an occasional listening to some brass band music. Those who know their brass band music will already know that Paul Lovatt-Murray is highly regarded as a younger composer of brass band music and will know of his achievements and credentials; they will also have formed an opinion as to whether they like his particular musical style. But I don't have that background. I've listened to brass band music from time to time in decades past, and liked enough of it once a year or so to tune into a radio station that has a regular time-slot for music of the brass bands. But mostly, this is a genre that has been crowded out by other musical interests. For me, then, listening to Lovatt-Cooper's work came as something of a revelation. I heard first 'Dreamcatchers' and was arrested by it. After hearing it in the car, I came home, chased it up on the Internet, and bought a download of this album. Continued hearings have not diminished my enjoyment. Lovatt-Cooper writes for the brass band, and it tells. When I hear - as I have - Deliberes' 'Flower Duet' from the opera Lakme played as a piece for brass band, I think, 'Nice', but I compare it with the tingling I had when I heard the duet sung in the opera hall. Sorry, the brass band version doesn't do that for me. Lovatt-Cooper's work does. It doesn't bring comparisons to mind; instead, when I step back from enjoying the music, I think, "I didn't know you could convey those emotions with a brass band," or "That's how music for a brass band should be written." Note that this album could have been called The Music of Paul Lovatt-Cooper, Volume 1, as it is the predecessor to Volume 2, called 'Only for You'. Of course, this music of this album may not accord with your own musical preferences. You may even think the music is accessible to a degree greater than a refined sensibility demands! But if you'd like to give modern brass band music a hearing to give it a chance, I'd recommend this disk. Personally, I'm glad I bought it, and it's made me more inclined to explore this genre further.