Having been working on core sound recently with a number of students, I have been trying to reference where my idea of sound has been developed from. These examples are my ideals and inspiration for the perfect modern British cornet sound. These players have been some of my personal heroes from day one, and some of the great talents of the British Brass Band scene.
1. Brian Taylor – As principal cornet with Williams Fairey Band, c.1993. Effortlessly beautiful playing and perfectly unvirtuosic – absolutely nothing more than it needs to be. Brian’s level of control gives the listener no concept of how difficult this is. His selflessness and dedication to this music are a perfect measure of a man who has been one of my idols since I began to play.
2. Ben Godfrey – principal cornet, Yorkshire Building Society band. ‘Maids of Cadiz’ (1995)
Simply extraordinary. I had the privilege of playing alongside Ben on occasions whilst in the Guards, and he in the RAF Central Band – no matter whether he was playing cornet, trumpet or piccolo trumpet or even fanfare trumpet, what came out was always unassumingly sublime. Like this. No party tricks, just pure elegance.
3. David Daws – one of the all time great cornet players from the Salvation Army. Aside from having an astonishingly good technique, he could also deliver the most beautiful phrase as you will hear here. Search through many of the other videos on Youtube and you will hear that even the most complex technical challenges do not present an obstacle to his commitment to playing melody. This is performed not just ‘off by heart’, but truly from the heart.
4. Martin Winter – as principal cornet with Desford Colliery band. A young version of Martin here captured delighting Harry Mortimer with a performance of Percy Code’s ‘Zelda’. ‘HM’ is considered to be brass band royalty in Britain, having dedicated his life to performing, conducting and broadcasting. He is himself a legendary cornettist from a previous generation, not included here because he is probably one of the greatest exponents of the old style of playing, rather than the modern one. Martin however is very much still at the forefront of brass banding. Having been a member of the trumpet sections of the Bergen Philharmonic for some years, he is now also engaged as a creative composer and conductor in the Norwegian brass band scene.
5. Philip McCann – A legendary sound. Let’s not talk about vibrato. Is the most wonderful core of cornet sound there might ever have been? He also has the most wonderful phrasing ability. His many volumes of ‘The world’s Greatest Melodies’ are wonderful demonstrations of this extraordinary talent.
6. Maurice Murphy – as guest soloist with Yorkshire Imperial band, 1982. Maurice has probably done more to give credibility to British Cornet players than most after a long and successful career as Principal Trumpet with the London Symphony. Before that, he was principal cornet of Black Dyke, and the first ever leader of the National Youth Brass Band of GB. Tomlinson’s is one of my favourite concertos, written for and premiered by Maurice. It brought cornet playing into a new age, and has only relatively recently been rerecorded anybody else – both Martin Winter and Roger Webster have recorded their own great versions more than 20 years on. There may be other reasons for this, but my guess is that it has taken a generation for us to catch up with what was a very forward-thinking piece of writing for the instrument at the time.
7. James Fountain – I first heard him when he was only 14 as principal of the NYBBGB, where he filled the RNCM concert hall with a sound that surrounded you like a warm blanket. It is no wonder the journey he has gone on since.
8. Philip Cobb – another London principal from a Salvation Army background. As a teenage supertalent, Phil was the reason I only ever reached the no2 seat in the National Youth Brass Band! Yet, striving to get anywhere close to his level in those early years has given me an awful lot to be thankful for. With the sound he produced back then, we knew he was headed for a special career.
9. Richard Marshall – with Black Dyke Band, 2011. Another routine and classy display of wonderful technique, fluid lines and effortless delivery. A wonderful down-to-earth chap, who I also owe much to from the NYBBGB years when he was our tutor.
10. Mark Wilkinson – with Fodens Band, 2014. You don’t reliably hold the end seat at a band like Fodens for so many years without having something special.
3 responses to “The British Cornet Sound”
Some fabulous examples. Well done for putting it together. Ray Farr
Thanks for digging this up! This was written some time ago now but it’s refreshing to revisit and remember some of the reasons I started playing the cornet!
I actually prefer the old style. such as the likes of Jack Mackintosh