No.8 for brass and percussion, op. 142 (1989)...broadcast in 1992 with the National Youth Brass Band of Wales conducted either by Edward Gregson or Ray Farr (there seems
a dispute amongst the sources about who the conductor was for the premiere)
Apologies for the thread necromancy in my first post, but I can add some vaguely pertinent details. I can confirm beyond doubt that it was Edward Gregson, founding musical director of the NYBBW who conducted this performance to mark the ensemble's 10th anniversary in 1992. I know this because I was in the band!
It's a fascinating work, and I was lucky enough to have access to the score when I included a brief analysis of it in my undergraduate dissertation. My god it was hard, though - AH certainly didn't "write down to a standard", given that it was an (albeit rather fine) amateur youth band. I've spoken to Edward Gregson about it since and he remembers having sleepless nights over whether we were ever going to master it.
Hoddinott has been rather disgracefully treated by posterity, in my view, and his work is well overdue for extensive critical re-evaluation and rediscovery. Were I in the market for a PhD thesis topic... Certainly his brass band music (almost all written for the NYBBW) has been shamefully neglected by the top few Welsh bands who would have both the skills and the platform to perform it. I'm interested if anyone knows if the Symphony No. 8 was ever published - it was in MS at the premiere and I'm not aware of a subsequent performance, so I suspect not given the limited market for it.