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2003 North of England Regional Qualifying
Championships
Second Section - Retrospective
Adjudicator: Colin Hardy
Test Piece: Celestial Prospect - Wilfred Heaton
Just as they had done in 2002, Langbaurgh Brass conducted
by Tim Oldroyd were clear winners of the Second Section with a performance
of “Celestial Prospect” that was shaped and styled in
such a manner that it left no one in the audience and certainly
not the man in the box, that they were the best band here.
It was a very well controlled reading from the MD and his players
responded in a manner that suggests that they will be one of the
favourites come Dundee later in the year. They will also on this
type of form be a band that could well make a very impressive mark
in the First Section. They really were that good.
Second place was taken by Houghton Brass under the excellent direction
of T. Gibson who gave a performance that really caught the essence
of the music and had the right amount of control especially in the
tricky first scherzando section – the one that has been causing
so many problems around the country. They didn’t quite have
the quality or depth of tone of the winners, but all the technical
demands were met for us and they fully deserved the opportunity
to try and take the title in Scotland.
Close on the heels of both bands though were Spennymoor Town conducted
by recently appointed MD Duncan Beckley. Duncan knows what it takes
to coach bands in the basics, and this was a performance notable
for its tuning and balance. It didn’t have the overall quality
of the top two, but it was very close to them indeed. Just a few
individual errors may have made it easier for Colin Hardy to have
made his decision, but it would have been close.
Behind the top three came a close group of bands that we thought
could have come in any order – all had their moments, but
crucially lacked the consistency throughout the entire piece to
make their mark. Just as elsewhere around the country it was a question
of one good section followed by a decent one, followed by a poor
one – but not always in that order. The standard of the solo
playing was impressive but the overall ensemble was at times too
loose and the scherzando section at the beginning time and again
took casualties with players either too hesitant or too eager to
lead or follow. Not one band from the group that eventually came
4th to 8th came through unscathed.
Felling were perhaps the most complete, but they had too many errors
to push for a higher places, whilst both Peterlee and York Railway
Institute lost points as their ensemble was too untidy and the balance
became top heavy as they played at the higher dynamic levels. Both
Cockerton and Lanchester couldn’t get the consistency needed
throughout the piece and both sounded tired towards the end of their
performances when hardness of tone spoilt things. All of these bands
though had their moments and possibly with a bit more time in preparation
and a few less nerves could have made it onto the podium. The difference
was the error count.
Finally the bottom three couldn’t have too many complaints
at their final positions, as they all approached the piece in a
slightly too aggressive manner and didn’t catch the essence
of Wilfred Heaton’s music. The technical aspects seemed to
be just out of their reach and so they struggled to get the basics
in place. Ferryhill tried manfully but couldn’t control the
error count and the sound of the band was too hard and aggressive,
whilst Flimby Saxhorn seemed ill at ease and very nervous from the
start. Finally Barnard Castle seemed short on confidence and the
errors were too plentiful for them to make it further up the points
table.
As for the 4BR predictions, we seem to have done OK, but like many
of the bands we lacked the consistency to get them all right. Langbaurgh
did us proud and won in style whilst Spennymoor who we tipped for
the runners up spot came third. Cockerton (tipped for 3rd) came
7th, Houghton (4th) came runners up, York (5th) came 6th and Flimby
(6th) came 10th. Our dark horses Felling showed that they were worth
a few bob each way and came 4th.
Colin Hardy was impressed by the top two bands and in particular
the winners , and we think he won’t be far wrong when they
both make it to the stage in Dundee later this year. Both will be
in with a chance of taking the title.
© 4BarsRest
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