RAY STEADMAN-ALLEN (18 September 1922 - 15 December 2014) Here is one of Rays closest friends, the euphonium legend Trevor Groom, playing Rays The Ransomed Host. (By closest friends I mean that Trevor would go over to Rays house every week when he lived in Kettering and mow his lawn as well and spending a lot of time together, not least with Trevor playing through the early drafts of Rays Lyric Variations with Ray at the piano!). Just listen with your HEART (not your ears!) to Trevors amazing range of vibrato and straight sound (you will completely miss this if you dont listen very closely) and the mellifluous colorings at 3 50. Also listen to the careful shadings at 4 50 - almost completely different on each phrase - and the surreal, other-worldly sound at the aria at 5 30. What a shame the cadenza at 6 25 wasnt 15 minutes longer! - and what technique to close out - the tone absolutely full on every passing note!! Trevor - who could never bear to listen to himself because he was so intensely self critical - said he did his best playing before the age of 18 (before he went into the military and didnt play for several years). Yet this performance of The Ransomed Host is not only a superlative masterclass in euphonium playing of a very rare order not yet matched by any player living or dead (and there are some really terrific ones out there) - it is also a capturing on recording of the very essence of music itself. No wonder all the other legends of his day - John Clough, Lyndon Baglin etc. - simply stepped aside whenever Trevor played in a band with them (and Trevor would have been quite happy to have played 2nd euphonium to any of them, incidentally - he only played principal euphonium because everyone else wanted him to). The gifts of Ray Steadman-Allen and Trevor Groom were very special indeed, and it is my total pleasure and privilege to share them with you here. Its one of the best Christmas presents I could give. https://youtube/watch?v=vjdd6DD0R1k
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 15:17:26 +0000