On Saturday 13th January, the world's number 1 ranked Brass Band, 'Foden's Band', will be performing at Cripps Hall Northampton as part of our (Towcester Studio Band) HaBiT project.
The concert will commence with a 'Massed Band', consisting of the afternoon's workshop band of 75 players together with the Foden's Band players. This massed band will play a piece 'Two Shoes' that was commissioned especially for this event .
The Foden's Band will then complete the first half and full second half of the concert by themselves.
Tickets can be purchased in advance from
The piece 'Two Shoes', written by Foden’s principal trombone player, John Barber, takes it's inspiration from Northamptonshire’s Boot & Shoe making heritage and consists of a two-movement piece based on running and dancing shoes.
The first movement 'Running' marks the early 1950's when Towcester's Mr Law was making shoes for Roger Bannister (in addition to shoes for the All Blacks and Springboks). In 1952, wearing Mr Law's shoes Roger Bannister competed in the Helsinki Olympics, smashing the 1500-meter British Record, before in 1954, famously becoming the first man to run a mile in under 4 minutes.Â
The music, with references to the Vangelis 'Chariots of Fire' imagines an early morning run around the Towcester Circle, visiting the River Walk, Belle Baulk Park, and Shires Meadow Park, gradually gaining in stature, building as the sun rises, before the training session calms as the circle is complete.
The second movement 'Dancing' imagines Dances taking place in the Towcester Town Hall in the late 1920's. Originally built in 1866 as a Corn Exchange, the building served as the headquarters of the local rural district council for much of the 20th century whilst catering for civic events and dances. Set as a Shuffle, the music imagines couples in their dancing shoes as they do the Lindy Hop and Charleston in the Town Hall.
