Metamorphoses

• Main performer: Cuyahoga Valley Brass Band
• Booklet languages: English
• Time: 73:32

Review

The Cuyahoga Valley Brass Band is no longer known by that name; about 2006 the name was changed to the Brass Band of the Western Reserve. It is, as of 2010, still under the direction of the leader who founded it in 1997, English bandmaster Keith M. Wilkinson, who initially made his reputation with Salvation Army Bands in the U.K. and later moved up into leading some of the top bands connected with commercial firms in England, such as the Great Universal Stores (GUS) Band and the William Davis Construction Group Band. A parallel tradition in the United States whereby factories and other large companies sponsored brass bands, such as the legendary Armco Brass Band of Middletown, OH, by the year 2000 has largely disappeared. Nevertheless, the very news of the arrival of Wilkinson in Northern Ohio in 1997 was enough in itself to motivate raising the Cuyahoga Valley Brass Band; as the Brass Band of the Western Reserve it has taken up residence of the University of Akron.

Metamorphoses is this band's first album, and it's a very good one; it is well recorded, made in a local Baptist Church in Akron, and contains several showcases for star soloists, though the album is strongest when the ensemble as a whole is in full cry. As one might expect with most self-produced first albums, there are spots on Metamorphoses where intonation and ensemble sound is a little loose, but not very many; overall the level of performance here is comparable to English groups such as Grimethorpe Colliery Band. In terms of repertoire there is nothing of earth-shattering importance on this disc, although Wilkinson's own arrangement of the March from Paul Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber is a standout. ~ Uncle Dave Lewis , Rovi

Performances

Composer	Title	Time
James Curnow	Fanfare and Flourishes	2:08
Camille Saint-Saëns	Work(s) (French Military March)	4:51
Harold Arlen	Somewhere Over the Rainbow (for the film The Wizard of Oz)	4:13
John Williams	Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, film score ([Unspecified excerpt])	6:04
Leslie Condon	Celestial Morn, for band	9:23
Andrew Lloyd Webber	Phantom of the Opera, musical (Act 1. Overture)	2:29
Edvard Grieg	Peer Gynt Suite for orchestra (or piano or piano, 4 hands) No. 1, Op. 46 (Morning Mood)	4:06
Paul Hindemith	Work(s) (Symphonic March)	4:53
Philip Sparke	Pantomime, for band	8:17
Unspecified	Holy, Holy, Holy	5:20
William Himes	Jubilance, for band	8:34
Kevin Norbury	Variations on Maccabeus, for band	13:14

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