Thierry Deleruyelle's 'Fraternity' may recall unimaginable
destructive loss — but it is also a work filled with a sense of dignified hope
communal: The capriciously destructive influence of both man and nature has always been the omnipotent
ultimately horrific accompaniment to the extraction of coal from deep beneath the surface of the earth. 
The lingering effects still resonate around the world today; from distant memories of individual family bereavement to the names of villages whose timeless identity will forever be associated with unimaginable mourning; Senghenydd in Wales
 It is a long and stark statistical obituary
Thousands upon thousands have been killed - including the 116 children and 28 adults submerged by the wave of colliery mining waste that engulfed Pantglas Junior School in Aberfan on the morning of 21st October 1966. 
It is not the romantic notion displayed by sunken pit wheels
painted coal trams and shiny brass gift shop miner’s lamps that recall the story of the true of cost of mining coal - but the cold rows of bleached headstones that fill graveyards in proud communities across the globe.  
It is that reality that informs Thierry Deleuyelle’s outstanding composition ‘Fraternity’ - an intensely thoughtful work that recalls one such horrific disaster; that of Courrieres near Lens in Northern France in 1906
when 1099 miners were killed by an explosion of coal dust
It remains the second largest loss of life in the history of the industry. 
There is personal connection for the composer – his paternal grandfather was a miner from the age of 12 in the type of pits that formed the focal point of villages such as Mericourt
Billy-Montigny and Noyelles-sous-Lens that were to be denuded of a generation of proud husbands
Written as the set-work for the 2016 European Brass Band Championships in Lille
the timeline of a single catastrophic day and its immediate aftermath. 
it is also a powerful exploration of the binding sense of fraternal identification that led miners from as far afield as Belgium and Germany to come to offer assistance in the task of both rescuing survivors and in bringing out the dead. 
Seven linked sections form the narrative chapters of the 10th March 1906; opening with the dawn rituals of personal preparation and the unworldly
icy mystery of the men’s trek to work
as the imposing triangular edifice of the colliery tower slowly emerges from the damp mist of the early morning. 
The layered music unfolds with a deliberate sense of tension and unease – revealing the palpable sense of foreboding of what fate is soon to bestow upon them
the tubas the shadow figures of colleagues heading to their collective destination
Into the gullet of the shaft the miners drop like stones to the pit floor – some 340 meters below the surface; the simple cornet solo increasing in intensity and extremis as the cage finally hits pit bottom; a fraternal dialogue between the baritone and horn leading the men to the coal face
Here they arrive at the truly unromantic heart of industrialised mining life - and the hours of laborious
rhythmic extraction of coal amid hellish conditions; picks
hammers and shovels working in a unified cause. 
The deliberate low pitched passagalian foundation that pulsates with intensity is matched by the mechanical sounds of the percussion and the busy interjections of the higher brass as the coal is ripped
There are hints of unimaginable forces though – touches of Paul Dukas and ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ as the miners burrow with increasing ferocity
 The music here is full of controlled detail
purpose and precision – yet still one false move away from disaster
It comes; a ripping ferocity of explosive slaughter that blasts its way through the tunnels and walkways obliterating humanity in its wake – the heated percussion forcing the music forward before the bubbling semi-quaver undercurrents of gas bring chaotic mayhem
The music has a chilling inhumanity; stabbing fissures emerging from almost nowhere to suck air from lungs
small elemental motifs and fleeing semi-quaver runs signalling life or death throughout the ensemble as panic sets in. 
the force loses its destructive energy and ebbs to a funereal close
 A deathly tuba chord heralds the task of bringing out the dead; the timpani motif evoking the same early morning ritual of preparation and journey – although this time the anticipation is filled with an overwhelming feeling of loss
Above ground the realisation of what has occurred is heralded by the simple paean of grief from the solo cornet - a prayer joined in melancholic recitation by an ever increasing ensemble
Saturday 10 May • Winter Gardens Complex
May 5 • Ocean Brass are inviting applications for our Principal Cornet position
as we prepare for an exciting schedule of concerts and contests in the second section through 2025 and beyond
May 4 • Following a successful start to our 2025 contest season
Rode Hall Band are looking for a good FRONT ROW CORNET player to join this enthusiastic
friendly and progressive 3rd section band based on the Cheshire/Staffordshire border
Rode Hall Band are looking for a good SOPRANO CORNET player to join this enthusiastic