Rehearsal Update January 25, 2012

The New York Staff Band’s rehearsal for January 25th contained a great deal of work on pieces for the upcoming Profile Night, recording, and 125th Anniversary concert. The band has recently devoted many hours of practice on the works of Paul Lovatt-Cooper, Composer in Residence for the contesting juggernaut Black Dyke Band and this season’s Profile Night guest. Lovatt-Cooper is perhaps most recognized for the exciting and riveting flourishes of pieces such as Fire in the Blood or Vitae Aeternum, but special focus this week was paid to a more subdued and compelling piece entitled “Donegal Bay,” a solo for Baritone, to be performed at Profile Night by Bandsman Adam Fyn, a native of Canada. The stirring melody and warm chords of this heart-felt and spirit-filled solo are sure to please even the most casual of listeners.

Work continued on Kenneth Downie’s “The Hope of Glory” and Peter Graham’s “To Worlds Unknown,” a piece newly composed for the purpose of the band’s coming recording. Both are fascinating and deeply layered musical tapestries, and are sure to add a profound quality to the listening experience of the entire album.

Also new this rehearsal was the completed “War Cry,” an arrangement of the staple Army hymn, “Ever is the war cry, Victory!” reworked in a dynamic and rousing fashion by the band’s own Dorothy Gates. This piece was composed for the band’s 125th Anniversary Concert, and is an accurate representation of the band’s mission, and the mission of The Salvation Army as a whole – with Christ, we have eternal victory!