Editorial ~ 2009: February/March
3-Feb-2009This month we give our opinions on the evolution of the RNCM Festival of Brass, the need for new Research markings and praise the great Bramwell Tovey.
Festival evolution
The evolution of the Royal Northern College of Music Festival of Brass in recent years has seen it attain a unique and vital status in the brass band musical calendar.
With Paul Hindmarsh’s artistic influence underpinning it, there is no other event that offers such a diverse range of repertoire, intelligently programmed and performed by some of our finest bands; and all of this packed into one intensive weekend of music that should prove a magnet for anyone genuinely considering themselves to be an enthusiast of brass band music.
Yet still in the brass band world we seem to find it impossible to get away from the contesting mentality. The consequent danger is that we allow the Festival to descend into a mere sporting event between the participating bands.
Only last year, walking around the hall between events, one could hear comments and conversations revolving around “who had played best” amongst the bands there to entertain us; and those comments were not solely to be heard emanating from the players in the participating bands themselves.
To engage in such competitive banter is to miss the point of the Festival completely.
The fact that the Festival of Brass features some of our very finest bands is something to revel in, as are the masterclasses and recitals given by the numerous eminent musicians whose services Paul Hindmarsh manages to secure. But what matters most of all is the music.
Above all else, The Festival of Brass represents an all too rare opportunity to leave contesting behind in favour of the sheer pleasure of listening to some of the finest music ever written for our beloved medium. It just so happens that we are fortunate enough to hear that music in performances that are often as good as they come.
What do you think?
Send an email to: comments@4barsrest.com
Research points?
In our December Editorial we questioned the current points system found at the Brass in Concert Championship, and the need for it to be amended to truly reflect and reward competing bands musical endeavours.
And if you thought there was a problem or two with what goes on at The Sage every November, then spare a moment to try and work out what on earth is happening at the Action Medical Research Youth Championships in Blackpool.
The young players of today have enough exams, markings, appraisals and tests to sink a battleship – or destroy the fledgling hopes and aspirations of developing talents before they even start to blossom their potential. Now they have to contend with what is going on there too.
We have been here before with this contest – the marks given a couple of years ago for the entertainment element making the music ones completely redundant – and we are on much the same territory once again.
This year the point’s difference between the bands coming 1st and 14th musically was 16 – a sensible and accurate reflection by Richard Evans of the standards on display.
The difference between the bands in terms of entertainment was 30 – a complete nonsensical spectrum of prescribed marking and box ticking that failed to allow the judge Gordon Higginbottom the leeway to make relevant.
The result was all too predictable – the band in 14th place ending up 41 points behind the winners.
Youth contesting should be about encouragement and aspiration. The competitive element is of course crucial to that, but how on earth it can be seen to be either encouraging or aspiring when young players are so starkly shown the magnitude of their failure with such a crass and blunt method of assessment?
If the organisers really want to help the very bands that help advertise the work of the sponsors so well, then perhaps they should indulge in a little bit of statistical 'research' of their own.
What do you think?
Send an email to: comments@4barsrest.com
In praise of Bramwell Tovey
Bramwell Tovey inhabits a different musical world from the rest of us – a quick look at his CV for the RNCM Festival of Brass programme confirmed that.
However, he remains one of the most unpretentious of men. Warm, witty, self-deprecating, immensely personable and intelligent, and even, ever so slightly bonkers. He also relishes his love for the brass band movement.
When it comes to the music though he is a rare breed indeed - he is on a diffrent planet altogether. Seeing him in action is a treat in itself, hearing what he has written for the medium, something perhaps even finer.
He has been honoured and feted by the great and good in a manner that would take many a brass band conductor with visions of misplaced grandeur, a lifetime to fill a bloated CV with - yet he wears the mantle of true international renown with the most gracious of unaffected manner.
All this as he flies the world racking up the air miles, yet still finds time in his schedule to make the most fleeting of appearances in our restricted musical world, memorable ones.
Different indeed – and we should remain ever thankful that he is.
What do you think?
Send an email to: comments@4barsrest.com
