To complete a recording of unknown wind band music by the O'Donnell brothers, together with their more familiar works.
MUSIC LOVERS
Please contribute to this project to enable us to complete the first ever recording of all the existing wind band works by the O'Donnell brothers.
You could receive a pre-release album or more! Unfortunately it's an expensive business making recordings so your help is urgently needed...
We have already recorded BW O'Donnell's unpublished 'Lyric Poem' (When the Sun is Setting), 'Prelude', 'Strathspeys and Reels' and a Suite: 'The Irish Maiden' together with Rudolph's 'Fantasie Overture' all unpublished original works for wind band - wonderful stuff and the RAF College Band loved recording it.
Plus works already published 'in the can' are BW's 'Crusader March', 'Two Irish Tone Sketches' and two of the 'Three Humoresques' before members of the RAF College Band were struck down by Covid!
We would like to return in November to complete what will now be a double album - the third Humoresque, 'Theme and Variations' and 'Songs of the Gael' plus a few smaller items But we need YOUR help to fund this and to ensure that this beautiful and often Irish-flavoured music can be heard and played again, the unpublished works have been engraved and will be published by bandleader Publications. Donations, however small are most welcome and are urgently needed.
Many wind band enthusiasts will be familiar with the three O’Donnell brothers: PSG O’Donnell (1882-1945), RP O’Donnell (1885 – 1961) and Bertram Walton O’Donnell (1887-1939). Between them they served as Bandmasters with a huge variety of bands in the Army, the Royal Marines and in the RAF. BW studied Cello and Composition at the Royal Academy of Music and was by far the most prolific and well-known of the three as a composer. Between 1927 and 1937 BW was Conductor of the superlative BBC Wireless Military Band followed between 1937 and 1943 by his brother Percy. During WW2 Rudolph was Principal Director of Music RAF and Conductor of the Central Band which then contained London’s finest professional musicians who had signed up for the duration. All three composed and conducted.
Alison O’Donnell, herself a well-known Irish folk singer is the granddaughter of Percy and approached me a while ago to record some hitherto unknown and unpublished items by both BW and Rudolph. We have put together a programme to include BW’s unknown A Lyric Poem (When the Sun is Setting), Prelude, Suite: The Irish Maiden and Strathspeys and Reels – all original works for wind band, reminiscent in style of Percy Grainger and beautiful in their own right, wonderful to perform and to hear. Then there is Rudolph’s mighty Fantasie Overture another unknown original band piece. To that we add a few smaller items by the three brothers and if we can, we shall also record all four of the published BW works: Three Humoresques, Two Irish Tone Sketches, Songs of the Gael and Theme and Variations. This will all be released on my label MPR – please visit www.mikepurtonrecording.com . We aim, if funding permits, to create a double CD album containing as much as possible of the existing music by the three brothers. The ‘unknown’ works have now been been engraved and will be available for all to purchase through Bandleader Publications.
We have engaged one of the UK’s top professional military bands, which I can now reveal to be the superb Band of the RAF College (the professional band based at RAF Cranwell) the spacious Chapel there is an excellent recording venue with a fine acoustic and we have the services of the world-famous Tony Faulkner as recording engineer. I have had many years of recording military bands so many of you already know my work, we aim for the very highest production values.
Although some support has already been pledged, we need to raise up to £6K to cover all production and musical costs and complete the project so I hope that you will be generous and support this exciting venture, every little helps and we have a system of rewards for donations. Just follow the instructions, it’s very easy to donate, let’s get this wonderful undiscovered music out there for people to enjoy!
Thanks in advance
Mike
Michael Purton MPR
This project successfully funded on 2nd September 2022