Symphonic Variants (abridged version) by James Curnow (David Thornton, euphonium)

This is a performance, given by the Brighouse & Rastrick Band, conductor David King and euphonium soloist David Thornton, is of an abridged version of James Curnow's 'Symphonic Variants for euphonium and band.' The brass band transcription has been done by John Bryant. The performance was on Sunday 22nd September 2013 in St David's Hall, Cardiff. Apologies for the strange camera angle and obscured balance (the mic was with the camera and therefore features a lot of percussion and not much euphonium at times!!!).

SYMPHONIC VARIANTS FOR EUPHONIUM AND BAND (JAMES CURNOW)

Although written nearly 30 years ago, the Symphonic Variants still remains one of the core repertoire works for euphonium and quoted in 'The Euphonium Source Book' (R. Winston Morris, Lloyd Bone, Eric Paull) as "one of the most demanding works ever written for the instrument". In the full version the explosive introduction and lyrical theme are followed by four extended variants - though in this performance we hear an abridged version that cuts out variants I & II. The American Bandmasters Association heralded the work in 1984 with it's coveted Ostwald Award (now known as the Sousa/Ostwald Award) and it has gone on to be frequently performed by euphonium players all over the world. The brass band transcription was completed by John Bryant in 1990 at the request of Robin Taylor who recorded the work with the Grimethorpe Band during the same year.