Graham: Metropolis 1927

Peter Graham is one of the leading brass band composers of his generation, and the first outside the US to win the American Bandmasters Association’s prestigious Ostwald Award for composition. Black Dyke Band celebrates his 60th birthday with this recording, the theme of which derives from Graham’s time in New York and from some of the ‘giants’ of American culture. On the Shoulders of Giants pays tribute to great brass virtuosi such as Miles Davis and John Philip Sousa; New York Movie is a ‘musical narrative’ on seven of Edward Hopper’s iconic, haunting paintings; and Metropolis 1927 takes its inspiration from the dystopian beauty of Fritz Lang’s classic science fiction film. The Black Dyke Band is legendary in brass band circles, and has already recorded the music of Philip Wilby, which American Record Guide called “dazzling.”