1952-1967
Denis Wright was born in Kensington, London, on 22nd February, 1895. He was the son of an eminent surgeon who, along with his family, moved to Wembley when Denis was five. Denis was a pupil at St. George’s School, Harpenden, where he later returned as Director of Music, though his initial teaching appointment, in East Grinstead, was as a teacher of modern languages.
His musical studies, at the Royal College of Music, were interrupted by the War, during which he served in Macedonia. His teachers at the Royal College were Charles Villiers Stanford, Walter Alcock, Frederick Bridge and Charles Wood – a distinguished group. He also studied conducting with Sir Adrian Boult.
His first involvement with the world of brass bands came whilst he was in East Grinstead. It was during the Easter holidays of 1925 that he spotted an unusual advert in Musical Times. A prize of 100 guineas was being offered by John Henry Iles, owner of the National Brass Band Championships, for a work suitable for use as the test piece for the Championships of that year. Denis knew little or nothing about brass bands or their instrumentation so he bought scores of the two most recent test pieces, Oliver Cromwell and On the Cornish Coast, both by Henry Geehl. Having studied these he spent the rest of his holiday writing an overture, which he called Joan of Arc.
To his surprise he won the competition. The prize money, he later revealed, was the equivalent of his salary for two terms and with it he bought himself a motor cycle. The work was duly published and he was invited to adjudicate at the contest.
Two years later he composed another Nationals test piece, a symphonic poem, The White Rider and in 1930 one of his subsequently most loved pieces appeared, the symphonic suite, Tintagel. Ironically, Denis’s first two test pieces, welcomed with open arms by the authorities at the time, are both long forgotten. Tintagel, with its haunting trombone solo in the slow movement (Elaine) and some highly original rhythmical effects for a band piece of the time in its lively finale, was rejected. It was intended, it is thought, as the 1931 Nationals test piece but was unceremoniously dumped. It made only rare appearances for the next 25 years, after which it was taken over by the publishers R. Smith & Co., successfully promoted and took its rightful place as a major addition to brass band repertoire.
By the late 1920s Denis was back in Harpenden. However, he was offered a job in 1930 as General Music Editor for the publishers Chappell & Co. A much more important opportunity was to come in 1936 when he was invited to join the staff of the BBC, specifically to form a band section within the Music Department. By now, incidentally, he was conducting the Crystal Palace Band, a regular broadcasting combination.
At the BBC
The BBC work was as ‘Supervisor of Brass and Military Band Broadcasts’. During the first three years of the appointment, Denis was able to secure a significant increase in the number of band broadcasts, though many were in regional programmes, with only a few on national networks. He was to learn very quickly about the poor standard of music that bands were playing. With the exception of test pieces, most of it was scored with outdoor performance in mind and could be played by bands of widely varying standards and sizes. Broadcasting exposed weaknesses in many of the pieces played and Denis set out with a will to create a new repertoire, not only of better quality music, but also scored in such a way that the limited shades of sound-colour within the brass band were more fully exploited.
Transcribing suitable pieces from the classics was at the top of the list, and pieces which came from his pen during the immediate pre-war years included the Academic Festival Overture and overtures to Die Fledermaus and The Thievish Magpie. Instrumental solos included Largo al Factotum, the Rondo from Mozart’s 4th Horn Concerto and Una Voce Poco Fa. Other pieces from this era included Capriccio Italien, a Carmen suite and Nimrod.
Along with all of this, Denis took it upon himself to educate bandsmen, conductors and listeners, feeding them with a higher quality of music than they had hitherto experienced. He encouraged conductors to study music seriously and to work towards diploma examinations. It was around this time that he first published his book, Scoring for Brass Band, still recognised by many as the basic standard text book for anyone wishing to compose or arrange for this combination.
On the outbreak of war Denis was re-located to Glasgow for his BBC work, and it was now that he prepared himself for the doctorate, which he obtained in 1940 at Edinburgh University. It took the form of a thesis – The Evolution of the Wind Band, but alongside it he also submitted the text of his brass band scoring book. A year later he composed his celebrated Concerto for Cornet, first performed in Glasgow by Harry Mortimer, with the BBC Military Band. It was soon available in versions for orchestra and for brass band.
In 1942 Dr. Denis was transferred to the BBC’s Overseas Service. By now he had returned to London and was succeeded as Supervisor of Brass and Military Band Broadcasts by Harry Mortimer. Further, these two collaborated in organising a series of massed band concerts in various parts of the country, often engaging eminent conductors such as Sir Adrian Boult, Sir Malcolm Sargent or Sir Henry Wood to conduct parts of the concerts, recorded for future broadcasts. Amongst his transcriptions from this period were the 1812 Overture, the Introduction to Act 3 of Lohengrin and Themes from the Fifth Symphony of Beethoven. Because of the rhythmic connotation of this latter work it became a symbol of ‘V for Victory’ and was very popular. Messrs. Wright and Mortimer were to become brass band icons during the post-war years.
Denis Wright is credited with having produced over 1000 scores, mostly for brass band, but including a considerable number for military band or orchestra, and with two BBC commissions for combined orchestra and brass band. He also championed music for brass and voices and in 1946 transcribed the orchestral parts of Handel’s Messiah for brass band.
He became Director of Examinations of the now defunct Bandsman’s College of Music and a visiting examiner for Guildhall and Trinity Colleges of Music. He made several visits overseas, notably to Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
The NYBB
Dr. Denis was invited to be guest conductor at a massed band concert in the Eastbrook Hall, Bradford, on 25th October, 1947. The unusual feature about this was that the three bands involved were school bands, all from the Bradford area. Instrumental teaching was very strong in this region and the concert triggered thoughts about the formation of youth bands to provide outlets for young players as they left school. A National Youth Orchestra had been formed earlier in the year and its founder, Ruth Railton, was in the Bradford audience. Denis met Miss Railton after the concert and during their conversation he posed the question, ‘If we can have a National Youth Orchestra, then why can’t we also have a National Youth Brass Band?’ ‘Why not, indeed?’ replied Miss Railton, and it was at this point that the idea of a National Youth Brass Band first took shape.
Three years later there was another massed band concert, organised by the National Association of Brass Band Conductors (the NABBC). For this, around 100 boys and girls were assembled from school and youth bands in the Leeds/Bradford area to perform, again, under the baton of Dr. Denis – this time in Leeds Town Hall. It took place on 26th November 1950. In the following January a meeting was convened in Manchester to discuss the formation of a National Youth Brass Band. Representatives from a cross section of the brass band world and also from a number of Education Authorities were present and it was decided to proceed.
Dr. Denis was appointed Acting Chairman and Leonard Davies, Principal of the Parr School of Music, Manchester, became Acting Secretary. In this capacity, he wrote to prominent brass band personalities in various parts of the country, soliciting their support. Finally, on 26th May, the first Council of the National Youth Brass Band was formed. Denis was its Chairman, Leonard Davies the Secretary, Sir Malcolm Sargent became the first President and a number of influential people were appointed Vice Presidents.
Following further meetings the first course was arranged, to take place at Thornton Grammar School, Bradford during the Easter period of 1952. There were to be sectional rehearsals led by leading brass band instrumentalists, periods of ear-training, and full band rehearsals under Dr. Denis.
The course duly took place and the NYBB’s inaugural concert was given, on Saturday, 19th April, to great acclaim in Bradford’s Carlton Grammar School. What was to be the greatest testimonial to the life of Doctor Denis Wright was now a reality, and from that day to this, two courses have been held annually, very much on similar lines to those laid down by the great man himself. Courses have been held in different parts of the country and though continuity was achieved through regular appearances by Dr. Denis as Music Advisor, variety of musical thinking was also present through other conductors of note being invited to take individual courses.
The year 1955 was quite a dramatic one for Dr. Denis. His first marriage had long since gone, but in November of this year he took a second bride, a Miss Maud Thomson. She had been his secretary at the BBC and was to become a significant figure at the NYBB, as Treasurer, Council Member and Vice President. She was a charming lady but could be a formidable person to clash with on NYBB courses – whether you be member, tutor or even Music Director! Mrs. Wright – ‘Maud’ to her friends – was literally the ‘right hand man’ to Dr. Denis, helping with his considerable amount of administrative work and accompanying him on many of his trips abroad. The other significant event of 1955 was that, at the age of 60, Denis retired from his permanent position at the BBC.
As with many musicians, retirement did not mean stopping work. He continued to accept periodical work from the BBC, increased his work load of composing and arranging, continued with his heavy adjudicating and teaching commitments and found more time for his overseas tours. These now became more extensive than they had been whilst he was working full time for the BBC. Shortly after his ‘retirement’ he embarked on a four-month tour; in 1959 there was an 18-week long tour and in 1961 he was out of the country from May to December.
All of this inevitably took its toll. He directed his last NYBB course at Easter 1967. Included in the programme was his Trio Concerto featuring cornet, trombone and euphonium. Alas, this was to be his final composition. Within a few weeks he was dead, passing away on 20th April 1967. Denis Wright was truly a pioneer of the modern brass band. His memory is perpetuated in many different ways, none more poignantly than through the founding of the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain.
