Sometimes words are totally inadequate to convey the feelings one experiences on occasions when music speaks to the heart, and through its beauty lifts that person to a higher plane, so much so that they become acutely aware that they are in God’s presence and that his voice has spoken to them.

Such was the case on a Sunday evening at the Boscombe Corps of The Salvation Army when a privileged congregation listened to a festival of music provided by the Corps Band which had been arranged by Bandmaster Howard Evans as a tribute to Lieut-Colonel Ray Steadman-Allen, OF.

In his introductory remarks Howard made reference to the presence of Ray’s daughters, Rev. Barbara and Rosemary, following which the Band gave a rhythmic rendition of the march The Scarlet Jersey.  The congregational song "He giveth more grace" to the tune Blacklands, written by Ray, preceded the cornet solo Someone Cares played by Craig Snell, which created just the right atmosphere for Lieut-Colonel John Pearce-Hayden to pray God’s blessing on this special evening.  John Starkes played with his usual technical proficiency the Euphonium solo The Ransomed Host, before the Trombone ensemble gave a sparkling performance of Wonders Begin When The Lord Comes In.

Lieut-Colonel David Phillips read selected verses from Romans 8 which, as many listeners correctly anticipated, was a precursor to Ray’s interpretation of that Scripture which he titled A Brass Celebration.  The silence that followed the excellent performance of this music, in particular the final few bars, was electrifying and continued into the showing of a video clip of Ray’s earlier years of conducting and composing, and finally a moving reference to his receiving the Order of the Founder, and to his wife Joy, who was unable to be present.

Flugel Horn soloist Kevin Whittingham gave a soulful performance of Ray’s arrangement of Edvard Grieg's Solveig’s Song before the band played their final major work of the evening, Starmaker.  The complexities of this little known music to a mainly Salvationist audience were fully explained by Bandmaster Howard Evans, in particular the middle section in which Ray uses the tune Eudoxia which in recent years he played to his wife, Joy, at the end of every day. The band proceeded to leave their listeners spellbound by their performance - for which they received rapturous applause.

The final musical offering of the evening was Evening Hymn written for a Royal Albert Hall festival in 2002 in which the congregation were invited join by singing the words, "The day Thou gavest, Lord, Is ended".

Before pronouncing the Benediction the Rev. Barbara Steadman-Allen brought this extraordinary festival, wherein the Holy Spirit’s presence was truly felt, to a close by movingly thanking the Bandmaster and the Band for their ‘consummate musicianship’.

Contributed by Lieut-Colonel Ramsay Caffull