One of Paul Lovatt-Cooper’s best known pieces
For today’s Advent Calendar window, we move from one Salvationist to another one. Yes, Delph’s very own Paul Lovatt-Cooper. If you are familiar with East of the M60’s previous concert reviews, PLC’s works are often bombastic and played near the end of either half.
Among his best known pieces is Fire in the Blood. Here, we see Black Dyke Band’s 19 March 2016 performance at the Centennial Memorial Temple in New York City. Throughout his work, there is a real contrast between the strident, relaxed, and the bombastic. All the perfect ingredients for a first half finisher.
Only a few months before this performance, Fire in the Blood was the Second Section test piece at the Butlins Mineworkers’ Contest in Skegness. In 2011 it was commissioned by Dr. Stephen Cobb for the 120th anniversary of the International Staff Band of the Salvation Army.
For our thirteenth piece, we shall leave you with a familiar march. All will be revealed tomorrow.
S.V., 12 December 2018.
