Andy
I listened on Saturday to the Brass Day. Grimethorpe were out of this world and I can see why they are regarded as the Best Band in the World. Well Done

Peter Davis
Enjoyed morning in R. Sch. but when hearing fanfare played in hall realised what a row it was! Wife recorded all 'music' for me but felt a lot of 'emperor's new clothes' around. Pity such talented musicians did not have music that was more melodic and pleasing on the to play. Not one march all day.

Tim
The Brass Day was an absolute marvelous day's entertainment I've had in a long while the only the that spoilt it for me and my wife was the Peter Weigold piece which spoilt the whole evening. There was no real music rhetoric whatsoever ever, whereas the H K Gruber piece was wholly convincing and structurally sound. I was privileged to be in the Brass Band Summer School of 1975 at Lancaster University where we played the rather entertaining Ragtimes & Habeneras by Henze, before the world premiere! More proms with Black Dyke and Grimethorpe please!

Tcunnane
A great imaginative programme; it worked for me! What a treat the Black Dyke was!! Nicholas Childs conducting was spot on. The Uzbek music was lifelong-memorable and the Sagbutts and Cornetts were sublime. Pictures at an Exhibition showed some excellent playing but they didn't seem as one with Håkan Hardenberger's conducting. Consequently it was uninspiring.

Andy
As an avid Brass Band fan or Brass Band geek as we are more affectionately known, what a privilege it was to be in the audience for what has to be a once in a lifetime experience... Black Dyke and Grimethorpe making up a massed band and probably the best brass band that anyone in the audience will ever see or hear to have so many startling players in close formation is absolutely awesome. It should be noted though that the Black Dyke performance of Dove Descending knocked the Grimethorpe performances into a cocked hat. What a triumphant day for the world of Brass!

Judith
What a truly amazing day! To play on the steps and then hear the vast variety of bands and splendid sounds during the 2 brass proms. With the Weiburg piece (armoured without) you didn't know where the music was going to come from next and the contrast between the comical duo in the middle and the Coldstream Guards in full uniform was truly a sight. The Janacek was a fitting end to a remarkable brass day - please do it again!

Louise
My 8 year old trumpet player and I came to the brass massive workshop and both delighted in such an experience; and to see how pleased Judith Bingham was was a real delight. The afternoon Prom was varied and challenging; the musicians were fabulous and we particularly liked the Black Dyke band. Then to hear the evening Prom on the way home on the radio was the perfect finale to our day; thank you for such a stimulating and exciting day!

Michael Gray
BBC4, you should have been there. Splendidly attired Uzbek musicians, in a boxing ring where the fountain should be, turning their eight-foot instruments to all corners of the hall. And what a sound – Health and Safety had put up warnings. Sagbutts, Grimethorpe, Black Dyke, BBC Phil also trooped on and off, giving us predictably enjoyable RVW, Elgar and Mussorgsky. The modern pieces, though seemed to lack focus. Alas, no repeat for this unique collection of polished brasses.

Gilly Perrett
Fabulous concert and such a surprise! I was invited by a friend and expecting traditional 'brass-bands'. Instead I was delighted by the complex and moving contemporary program. An exhilarating evening. Many thanks to all.

Nick Mercer
Hot and hemmed-in in the lower circle the shock of the first impact of the trumpets of Tashkent provided a welcome exorcism of the conditions and seemed to open up a breathable space. As the muzzles of the massive instruments circumnavigated the auditorium they seemed to invoke rather than create a wild menagerie and drive it before them. Magical."Dove Descending" by Philip Wilby was probably, curiously, closest in spirit to the above in that it, too - in a day of unquestionably fine playing and technical virtuosity - achieved a transcendent presence in the hall. It also disabused me of any residual and snobby misapprehensions I had regarding brass bands. Black Dyke were a revelation.

Brian Hunt
Wonderfully exciting Monteverdi; extraordinary Uzbek music.Hearing just these two pieces alone was worth the licence fee.

Steve
Did I say in an earlier review that the brain is not wired to appreciate discordant and disjointed sound? Somebody forgot to tell the Uzbeks. Their contribution to Brass day was a cacophony, but was short enough to appeal, and will linger in the memory for those who attended the concert live.The concert as a whole was a good illustration of what the Proms bring to the party: where else would you hear musicians from seven bands in one concert? Several of the pieces were not what I had expected, and some were unmemorable cacophonies, but overall it was fascinating to listen to.