The Video File (6.1MB): performed by the Cory Band at Nantyglo Leisure Centre on 30th April 2000.

The History of Nant-y-glo and Blaina

Preface

Blaina Overture

The Blaina Overture was commissioned by Colin Jones and Blaina Brass Band with funds provided by the Arts Council of Wales and was given its first performance by the Cory Band at Nant-y-glo Lesuire Centre on April 30th 2000.

The Blaina Overture is essentially a fantasia on the Hymn tune Ewing. The tune represents the dominance of St. Peter's Church through the last thousand years and forms all the material throughout the piece. The transformations of the tune represent the various dramatic changes that the area has experienced during its recent history. The form of the work charts the gradual destruction of the rural landscape through a period of developing industrialisation, punctuated by periods of economic depression, and its return towards a more rural environment. The final climax is a return of the tune proper with an insistent bass line that represents the optimism of a new future for the area.

This work is dedicated to the memory of Gwyn Jones who in turn dedicated over fifty years his life to Blaina Brass Band.