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2011 4BR Awards — Test Piece of the Year

Lots and lots of test pieces were performed in 2011 — some better than others it must be said. So which one was the best of the bunch though?

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4barsrest awardsThere were works old and new on show all year throughout the banding world, and we do point out that we only select those pieces that have been chosen as contest set works first – and not just ‘one off’ own choice selections, unless they have been subsequently used again in another contest.

Plenty to choose from then – from Butlins and the Areas to the Europeans, Masters, Birmingham, Cheltenham, London, all over Europe and the rest of the world.

These were the five that made the greatest impression on us though.


WaespiAudivi Media Nocte
Oliver Waespi
First Performance: European Brass Band Championship


What a cracker. The European Championships has produced a number of very fine compositions in recent years, but it is hard to think of one as good as this.  

The composer gave us something remarkably inventive, yet linked inextricably to brass band contesting tradition. The MDs and bands responded with equally inspiring performances.  

This was a brass band work that opened up new avenues of musical possibilities.


HamersPower of the Soul
Maurice Hamers
First Performance: Norwegian National Championship

The surprise of the year – and what a great one it turned out to be. 

A very personal, evocative work, with its episodes of tense, emotive writing, dark retrospection and intriguing fleeting references – like images of past memories played out in the mind. 

It was one of the most satisfying compositions of the season – especially when it was played with such understanding by the top bands in Bergen.

It surfaced again and again around Europe – and will surely be heard in the UK in 2012 too. Don’t miss it.


DobsonSymphony of Colours
Simon Dobson
First Performance: European Championship
 

A deeply intriguing, engrossing work from a composer who continues to explore new, exciting possibilities for brass band scoring thanks to his inquisitive, febrile mind. 

There was an ethereal beauty about this work – full of complex detail drawn from a palette of the most exotic colours and timbres. 

It drew you deeper into its clutches on each hearing – and always revealed something new about itself.


NilsenOld Licks Bluesed Up
Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen
First Performance: Norwegian National Championship
 
The dark, sensuous beauty of this composition was a revelation – from the free flowing energy of the opening and closing Toccata's to the mesmeric pulse of the extended central Ritornell, which beat like the post coital panting of a well satisfied woman. 

There was something so deeply engrossing about the work that at its close you felt as if the synapses in your brain had been chemically altered by a form of musical osmosis. 

That was witchcraft and genius rolled into one.


PLCBreath of Souls
Paul Lovatt-Cooper
First Performance: National Championships of Great Britain

Say what you like – but no other composition of recent years has created so much interest in a brass band contest as this.

The sneering class cocked their noses up at it, whilst Jo Public paid top dollar and sat through all 20 performances at the Royal Albert Hall – and few, if any, came away feeling as if they hadn’t enjoyed the experience in full.

Open, transparent and brilliantly, almost irrelevantly stylish, it was the definitive musical statement of our brass band contesting times.

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Barnsley Brass - Quiz Me Baby One More Time

Saturday 17 May • Worsbrough Miners Welfare. Park Road. Worsbrough Bridge. Barnsley S70 5LJ


Dobcross Silver Band - 150th Anniversary and reunion Concert

Sunday 18 May • Dobcross Band Club. Platt Lane. Dobcross Saddleworth OL3 5AD


The Hepworth Band - Albie Sugden Foundation Charity Concert

Saturday 24 May • Christ Church, New Mill, Holmfirth HD9 7ER


Ocean Brass - Segalula A Capella

Saturday 31 May • Jubilee Hall, Little Shore Lane, Bishop's Waltham SO32 1ED


Contest: Whit Friday March Contests

Friday 13 June • Saddleworth & Tameside OL3


Reading Spring Gardens Brass Band

May 18 • Reading Band are looking for TROMBONES and BASSES to join our lower end. Rehearsals are on Thursday evenings in Woodley near Reading with our MD Stephen Bucknell.


The Corsham Band

May 17 • We are looking for a MUSICAL DIRECTOR.. Corsham Band is a well-respected ensemble, adopting a hardworking ethic to their music-making. We are a dedicated and friendly team of enthusiastic musicians looking to rebuild and develop the band.


Uppermill Band

May 16 • VACANCY: Euphonium to complete our team!. Rehearsing Mon/Weds in Saddleworth. Progressive, forward-thinking band with a calendar of exciting gigs led by James Garlick (MD). . Highlights include: performing in a Netflix production & playing live film scores.


James McLeod

BMus (hons)
Euphonium Soloist, Teacher and Conductor


               

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