Peter Graham, the composer of this weekend’s National Finals test piece, ‘The Torchbearers – Symphonic Variations on a Theme by Eric Ball’, has emphatically laid to rest the claims of any would be conspiracy theorists over his recent appearance at a rehearsal given by reigning champion, Black Dyke on Monday evening.

Rival queries

4BR had fielded a number of queries throughout Tuesday and Wednesday concerning the matter, from rival conductors and players alike – some suggesting that the reigning champion would have gained an unfair advantage so close to the contest.

Errata

Peter has told 4BR that the reason for him being at the Royal Northern College of Music on Monday was to ensure that there were no more additions to be made to the final test piece errata list published on the Kapitol Promotions website before the contest.

All three judges were armed with questions and queries about the piece and we had a most productive time discussing it. No band will be able to complain that the judges don’t know ‘Torchbearers’ inside outPeter Graham

Permission

Peter was clear that he had rang Black Dyke’s MD, Dr Nicholas Childs to ask permission to attend the rehearsal and that he played no part whatsoever in it when there. He made his own notes of possible additions for the errata list, which has since been published.

"I have been working with Kapitol Promotions (contest organisers) to ensure that all bands have been informed of the errata on the piece," Peter told 4BR. "I was aware of the time constraints with less than a week to go before the contest and wanted to ensure that there were no other additions to be made."

Best to listen

He added: "The best way to do this was to listen to a performance from a band, and I therefore asked if I could listen to a run through from Black Dyke who was holding an open rehearsal on Monday night at the RNCM. If I couldn’t have made it to Manchester I would have made arrangements to listen to another band before the contest date. There were plenty of people there, so my appearance wasn't going to be a secret!"

Published

The official errata list has now been published and Peter was happy to stamp out any possible conspiracy theories before they blew out of proportion.

"I am grateful to Nicholas Childs and the band, but I came, listened, made my notes and took no part in their rehearsal. I have spoken to a number of different MDs about the work over the past couple of months and am always available to answer questions about the piece."

Professional

Phil Morris of Kapitol Promotions also confirmed that he knew about Peter’s appearance and the way in which it was handled. "Peter has been very professional, and has worked closely with us to ensure that every band has been informed of any last minute change to the errata of the score."

Adjudicators meeting

Earlier in the day Peter also confirmed that he had a productive meeting with the three adjudicators, David Read, Derek Broadbent and David King at which the errata queries were ironed out.

"The meeting went very well indeed. All three judges were armed with questions and queries about the piece and we had a most productive time discussing it. No band will be able to complain that the judges don’t know ‘Torchbearers’ inside out."

The official errata can be found at:
http://www.nationalbrassbandchampionships.com/index.php?id=15