"When The Brazen Bands Shall Play" Kingdom Brass, Laidlaw Music Centre

Recorded at Laidlaw Music Centre, St Andrews, 9 June 2024
Recording courtesy of the Laidlaw Music Centre.

Launched on 30th March 1824, HMS Unicorn is 200 years old in 2024 and the oldest ship in Scotland. For almost 100 of those years, from the 1870s to the 1960s, was a training ship for Navy reservists, some of whom lost their lives in service during the First and Second World Wars.

From its earliest days as a training ship, HMS Unicorn had its own brass or ‘silver’ band, with music a part of daily life on board and a source of pride.

When the brazen bands shall play is a new musical work for brass quintet, brass band and narrator. Through Imperial War Museums’ 14-18 NOW Legacy Fund, The Unicorn Preservation Society has commissioned composer Michael Betteridge to create a piece of music utilising the very same instruments that were used by bandsmen in the First World War, some of whom did not return.

The work is in eight movements. The first seven are composed for brass quintet, alternating between the original instruments from Unicorn and modern instruments. The work draws on the history of Dundee during the First World War and pays tribute to some of the individual bandsmen who died in the conflict. Below is a more thorough programme note outlining Michael’s research and creative process for this work.

Alongside this performance, Michael has been working with local school children in Dundee and Fife, in collaboration with students from The University of St Andrews, supporting them to compose short solo works for solo brass instrument inspired by the sounds of HMS Unicorn.

The Wallace Collection is currently ensemble-in-residence at the University of St Andrews, where it is a delivery partner for StAMP (St Andrews Music Participation), the major outreach project of the Laidlaw Music Centre. This five-year project encompasses a performance programme playing music from the 16th Century to the present day, and a Discovering Brass educational programme involving collaboration with Fife local authority primary schools and community brass bands.

Performing Sunday 9th June, Kingdom Brass was formed in August 1999 after the amalgamation of the Cowdenbeath and the Kelty & Blairadam Bands. Kingdom Brass competed for the first time at the Fife Championships of 1999, and easily swept the boards at that event. In the years since, the band has won numerous trophies, and is now firmly established as one of Scotland's top bands. Aside from competition, the band performs its concert repertoire at concerts and bandstand events and can be seen marching at local Gala days. Kingdom Brass Youth was formed as a result of the StAMP (St Andrews Music Participation) scheme set up in 2020, which initially offered an online programme to work around the pandemic.