Conductor Lawrence Killian's love of the music he selects is infectious - he communicates his understanding and enthusiasm to his players who then communicate it to the audience.

 

British Masterpieces was the perfect programme for a summer evening, though Arthur Butterworth's Capriccio Pastorale, written for Charles and Camilla, seemed to ramble somewhat. 

 

Hamish McCunn's lyrical Land of the Mountain, written in 1887, evoked the Scottish glens. Bright tones, exciting dynamics, incisive brass and percussion, sweet woodwind dialogues - this descriptive piece was a revelation.

 

Malcolm Arnold's Scottish Dances continued the Scottish theme with its tipsy bassoon, wistful Hebridean song featuring shimmering harp and haunting flute, and a Highland Fling that was a veritable explosion of sound, beautifully controlled.

 

Arnold's Cornish Dances likewise were brilliantly characterised, particularly the sad, stately hymns, the rustic marching band with its rag-taggle tin whistles and pom-pom tuba, and the creepy percussive interventions creating the eerily deserted tin mines.

 

All sections of this superb orchestra contributed to the atmosphere and excitement of Eric Coates' Three Elizabeths Suite, dedicated to the Queen Mother. 

 

The second movement, with some outstanding oboe playing, was played with great tenderness, and our good old Queen would have been quite rejuvenated by the joyous, innocent optimism of the concluding Youth of Britain March, celbrating the promise of her reign.