Musical experience with impact

Not the first time the cityfolk listened to the Naval Central Band perform, for most present, it was a musical experience of a different kind. With a fanfare called Tricolour8217; composed by N.M. Wise, the evening took off on a buoyant note. Intended as a welcome piece, the short but robust score served to shake off the languid evening air and make the audience sit up and pay attention to the ensuing programme. With the right mood created, the evening strode ahead with Radetzky,8217; a march tune that had the audience almost out of their seats and onto the floor! And offsetting the atmosphere came an overture. This opening to the opera Barber of Seville8217; dated back to the late 1800s the drawn-out strains of the clarinet joined by the trumpets later, settling the listeners back into their chairs.

In the midst of the clarinets and cornets, the bamboo flute and bugles, the xylophone had a delightful effect. Playing Helter Skelter8217; and Busy Bodies,8217; the xylophone players, Alex Taylor, J.K. Wilfred and G.C. Saha, were brilliant, keeping pace with the other instruments, complementing their heavy sounds. Following a medley from Fiddler on the Roof, was a solo on the cornet by M.J.J. Milton. Called The Lost Chord, the original composition was for a dying brother, and the grief as one bids adieu to life is an integral ingredient of the score. Contrary to Auld Lang Syne, the tune played at all farewell functions, one could identify the sense of a final departure here. Even the band men stood up during the rendition as if in salute. The second session commenced with a surprise number Calm of the Ocean, composed by Cdr. S.A. Anchees, N.M. who led the concert specially for the occasion. The notes recreating the moods of the waters in all their tranquility and anger died down to mingle with a thunderousapplause.

However, this half of the concert seemed paler in comparison. Filled with popular melodies like those of rock and roll king Elvis Presley Hound dog, Love me tender, the Brazilian Lambada, a Jamaican folk suite a group of dances, a march called Liberty Bell, this set was a contrast. But the final piece, the naval patriotic number Jai Bharati had the tempo spiralling again, before the evening drew to a close.

Along with the music played, it was also the way it was played that merited attention. The smart turnout of the musicians, the spit and polish evident on their brass instruments, even the disciplined manner they were held in when not being played, the visual impact was equally strong, the military decorum all too visible. And despite the troupe on stage being only a part of the entire 70-odd strong Naval Band, it was enough to create its impact.