The Art of the Military Band London Symphonic Concert Band & Tom Higgins

• Edward Elgar / Charles Evans:
• 1Pomp and Circumstance, Op. 39: No. 2, March in A Minor (Arr. C. Evans)05:46
• Sir Thomas Beecham:
• 2March04:16
• Edward Elgar: The Tower Chorales:
• 3O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde groß (After J.S. Bach's BWV 244)03:28
• 4O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden tab (After J.S. Bach's BWV 244)01:30
• Edward Elgar / Frank Winterbottom:
• 5With Proud Thanksgiving (Arr. F. Winterbotton for Choir & Wind Ensemble)08:11
• Bertram Walton O'Donnell: Three Humoresques:
• 63 Humoresques, Op. 28: No. 1, Pride and Prejudice03:26
• 73 Humoresques, Op. 28: No. 2, Prevarication03:25
• 83 Humoresques, Op. 28: No. 3, Petulance and Persuasion04:33
• Ralph Vaughan Williams:
• 9Sea Songs04:00
• 10Toccata marziale04:48
• Henry Geehl / Edward Elgar:
• 11Severn Suite, Op. 87 (Arr. H. Geehl): I. Introduction. Pomposo "Worcester Castle"02:21
• 12Severn Suite, Op. 87 (Arr. H. Geehl): II. Toccata. Allegro molto "Tournament"04:10
• 13Severn Suite, Op. 87 (Arr. H. Geehl): III. Fugue. Andante "The Cathedral"03:10
• 14Severn Suite, Op. 87 (Arr. H. Geehl): IV. Minuet. Moderato "Commandery"05:46
• 15Severn Suite, Op. 87 (Arr. H. Geehl): V. Coda. Lento - Pomposo02:20
• Edward Elgar / Tom Higgins:
• 16So Many True Princesses Who Have Gone "Queen Alexandra Memorial Ode" (Arr. T. Higgins for Wind Ensemble)07:25
• 17Pomp and Circumstance, Op. 39: No. 5, March in C Major (Arr. T. Higgins for Wind Ensemble)05:46
• Total Runtime01:14:21

Info for The Art of the Military Band

A unique collection of music arranged or expressly composed by Elgar for Military Band. Featuring music by some of his peers, notably Sir Thomas Beecham and Vaughan Williams, this new release includes two first recordings that are real gems: Elgar's With Proud Thanksgiving from 1920 and The Queen Alexandra Memorial Ode from 1932 with the London Symphonic Concert Band and the Joyful Company of Singers conducted by Tom Higgins.

In January 1920 Elgar began arranging, for Chorus and Military Band, a much-shortened version of ‘For the Fallen’ from his Spirit of England. These were wartime settings of verses by Laurence Binyon. This new version had been commissioned to be performed at the unveiling of the Cenotaph in London on 11 November 1920 and was arranged, for Military Band, by Frank Winterbottom. As it was, the ceremony at the Cenotaph was curtailed and Elgar’s music never performed. Although he arranged With Proud Thanksgiving for orchestral accompaniment, this is the first time the listener can hear how Elgar originally conceived the piece. Twelve years later Elgar set, for similar forces, a poem by John Masefield, the Poet Laureate, written to commemorate the unveiling of the memorial to the dowager Queen Alexandra who had died in 1925. Unfortunately, the arrangement for Military Band has been lost and conductor Tom Higgins has made his own arrangement especially for this recording. Arrangements of Pomp and Circumstance Marches two and five are also included as is the version for Military Band of Elgar’s Severn Suite from 1930 and his arrangement of two Bach Chorales originally performed from the top of the tower of Worcester Cathedral in 1911. Elgar’s contemporaries are represented by Vaughan Williams his well-known Sea Songs and the complex and challenging Toccata Marziale. The disc is completed by the premiere recording of Sir Thomas Beecham’s March from 1946 and Walton O’Donnell’s charming Three Humoresques from 1923.

Joyful Company of Singers
London Symphonic Concert Band
Tom Higgins, conductor

Tom Higgins
Particularly noted for his ‘stylish and attentive conducting’, Tom Higgins studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, winning a silver medal with honours in his first year. He continued his conducting studies with James Lockhart, formerly Music Director of the Kassel Opera House in Germany. He has regularly conducted leading British orchestras and during a four-year association with London’s Opera Holland Park directed the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. His diverse operatic repertoire has led to a command of more than 50 works for the stage, ranging from Mozart’s, The Magic Flute to Menotti’s, The Consul. Among the prominent choral societies in the London area he has conducted are the Croydon Philharmonic, the Epsom College Chapel Choir and Hertfordshire Voices.

He made his German debut in 2003 when he conducted the New Year’s Day Concert with Dresden’s Staatsoperetten Orchestra. Debuts in the United Kingdom include: St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the Covent Garden Festival, the Brighton Festival and Cadogan Hall, where he conducted the New Queen’s Hall Symphonic Wind Band.

In May 1999 he released through the BBC Music Magazine the world premiere recording of Sir Arthur Sullivan’s last completed work for the stage – The Rose of Persia. Chosen by The Observer as ‘Classical CD of the Week’, it features the Hanover Band. The CD was recently re-issued by CPO - (‘It is very good with excellent playing under Tom Higgins caught in good clean sound’ – Opera Magazine).

In 2009 he recorded a revival of Elgar’s, long forgotten song cycle, The Fringes of the Fleet (SOMMCD 243) with the noted baritone, Roderick Williams and the Guildford Philharmonic Orchestra. This was the work’s first professional recording since Elgar’s own in 1917. It drew wide critical acclaim and became Classic FM’s CD of the Week. (‘This is a superb performance’ – Michael Kennedy ~ ‘Wonderfully done!’ - Jerrold Northrop Moore). Tom Higgins later directed a private performance of the work for the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh.

His most recent recording, The Crown Imperial (SOMMCD 0138) also became Classic FM’s Featured Album of the Week. It is a collection of marches for 20th-century British Coronations and was recorded with the newly-formed London Symphonic Concert Band of which Tom Higgins is the director. The CD was released in July 2014.

In 2000 he was awarded a Diploma of Honour by the International Robert Stolz Society of Vienna. Engagements in 2002 included a gala performance of Aida as part of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee celebrations. Between 2004 and 2008 he directed a series of concerts in Berlin for the district of Charlottenburg. From 2002 to 2011 he was Resident Music Director of Opera South and conducted 10 main productions. During the greater part of this time he worked on a number of rare operas, attaining highly-praised performances - (‘Tom Higgins drew firm polished playing from the Guildford Philharmonic Orchestra and gave good support to his cast – Opera Magazine). Lortzing’s, Zar und Zimmermann (Peter the Great), was one of several operas for which he made a successful orchestral reduction.

In 2011 he conducted a concert at the Royal Academy of Music which celebrated the life of the late Sir Charles Mackerras. In the same year he broadcast Montague Phillips’, A Surrey Suite as part of the BBC’s Light Fantastic Festival with the Linden Wind Orchestra.

In addition to his concert work, he assisted Sir Charles Mackerras in the reconstruction of Sullivan’s ‘Cello Concerto and has also created a portfolio of solos for the international violinist, Midori. She premiered one of these works with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in February 2006. He is co-founder of the Richmond Symphonic Concert Band and in 2012 became joint-founder and artistic director of Teddington Summer Music – a new music festival for South West London.

Booklet for The Art of the Military Band