Editorial ~ 2005: August

This month we gives our opinion on Bram Tovey's instruction to the Open adjudicators; The success and future of the World Championships and the Summer of courses, tours and general fun for youngsters.

The Open test piece - Mr Tovey speaks

The competing bands for this year's British Open Championship will surely have already taken a good look at Bramwell Tovey's interesting set work for the contest, ‘The Night to Sing'.

Players will have scoured their parts for the intricacies and technical challenges that await them, whilst the conductors will have looked with quizzical eyes at the number of time changes, tempos and general musical shape of the piece.

They will also have taken notice of two other mains things: First, the need for four percussionists who will be employed on no less than 35 different instruments, and the small but telling addendum at the bottom of the programme notes.

"Adjudicators should penalise bands who make alterations to the scoring of the work, particularly the practice of embellishing the tuba parts with 8va bassa."

Never before has a composer made such a specific request to the adjudicators to ensure that their work is not tampered with in any way by errant hands and febrile minds in pursuit of contesting glory. And never before have adjudicators at our premier contest been put in such a situation.

Bramwell Tovey is quite correct in his clear indication that he wishes bands and their conductors to be penalised if they feel they know better than the composer himself that his work should be deliberately altered in an attempt to camouflage weaknesses, enhance effects or showcase players in an attempt to gain an extra advantage at the contest.  Not only is that a rather sly form of cheating, but also it completely robs the composition of its musical integrity.

That conductors have done it since the dawn of contesting time is irrelevant; that they have got away with it for so long, a disgrace.

Now that Bram Tovey has thrown down the gauntlet, it should be picked up by the British Open organisers and their adjudicators and made clear to the bands and the audience that if they feel a band has ignored the clear musical advice of the composer, then they will be penalised accordingly.

How the adjudicators decide what is penalised and what is not will of course be up to them, but they must do this before the contest is held, and it must be made clear to the performers and the audience before a single band takes to the stage that if they feel a band has altered the scoring of the work (and it is this point that the composer has made his clear intentions on) then they will lose points.

It may seem harsh, it may seem wrong to certain people, but musically the composer has laid it on the line for all the competitors. If you cheat and get caught then be prepared to face the consequences. Let us hope the organisers and the judges make it clear that Bram Tovey's instructions are carried out in full.

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The World Championships - success or failure?

Now that the dust has settled on the World Championships in Kerkrade, it is possibly now the right time to wonder whether or not the event was a success, and whether or not it really has a future in the world wide banding calendar.

The contests themselves can be said to have been a partial success. The level of performances was good, but not exceptional, whilst the enthusiasm of the organisers possibly camouflaged the apparent organisational weaknesses of an event that never quite caught the imagination of the banding public, due to a haphazard approach to the announcement of potential competitors at its very beginning.

It was not therefore ever a true World Championship, even though there was representation from most corners of the banding globe. The winners will no doubt declare themselves as ‘World Champions', but it is a rather cosmetic title and one that lacks a great degree of kudos.

The concept however remains a good one – if the right type of contest can be tailored to meet the realistic ambitions of the organisers.

With this in mind, the future of a World Championships can only be realistically guaranteed if the contest develops by seeking representative competitors from Brass Band Associations from around the world, rather than individual bands from selected countries.

National Bands, such as the representatives from New Zealand this year are therefore the only realistic way in which 30 plus players and back room staff could compete could make the trip without having to endure crippling costs to attend.

The players would be picked on merit to represent their country (as in football or rugby for example) and would be free to meet the cost of their trip by raising the funds themselves, anything up to a year in advance of the contest. 

This would relieve any bands of facing possible financial meltdown, ensure that countries have representation at the contest, and would give an added frison of national pride to each of the representatives. Who wouldn't want to wear the ‘Three Feathers' for Wales against the ‘Red Rose' representatives from the old enemy of England or play against the ‘All Blacks' of New Zealand or the French, Dutch, Norwegians, Americans, Japanese, Aussies, Swiss, Belgians, Danes or Germans!

There are four years before the next possible event – so why not the organisers giving it a bit of thought. A true World Championship would be a great event – it needs to be as well. 

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Youth Courses and the long hot Summer

The heady days of a long Summer usually means quiet times for most brass bands: Fetes and carnivals, concerts in the park and the chance for most players to take a bit of time off and find out what family life is really like.

For young players with an insatiable appetite for banding though, it gives many of them the chance to meet new friends, improve their playing and generally have a great time on the number of brass band courses and scratch band tours that are run around the UK during July and August.

The National Youth Bands of Britain, Scotland and Wales, Children's Band, residential courses and tours by well established scratch bands can mean a busy time for teenagers (and their parents who can become glorified taxi drives), and as has been proved once again this year, they are not only invariably well run, but provide the players with a real opportunity to mature as performers as well as individuals.

The most obvious end result is seen and heard in the concerts that these ensembles give at the end of a hard weeks work, late nights and more than a few tears and tantrums with performances of real character and talent on music that would test even the best players in Championship bands. 

The less obvious, but even more important result however is the sense of achievement, the developing of friendships and the increased enthusiasm for playing, and enjoying brass band music that comes from attending such events.

Congratulation therefore to all the helpers, organisers, unpaid lifters and carriers, the house staff and tutors, conductors and soloists and MD's who take the time to make sure these events occur year after year. Hard work no doubt, fantastically rewarding for sure. Now they too can look forward to a short holiday break before it all starts again in September.

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