There was plenty of youthful celebration on show at Cheltenham on Saturday afternoon – and long into the small hours of Sunday morning if the excitement levels were anything to go by — as Melingriffith 2 conducted by Dewi Griffiths took the Fourth Section National title back to Wales for the first time since the year 2000.

M2 via M4

And appropriately enough for a band known in the Principality as ‘M2’, the victory parade came via the M4 motorway as they returned to their bandroom with the City of Cardiff (Melingriffith) innovative organisation’s second National title in three years following the senior ‘M1’ Band’s success in the Second Section in 2009.

Demand

And with the organisation boasting three burgeoning bands – from the senior outfit that played in the First Section Final on the weekend to a fledgling M3 starter ensemble, there is sure to be demand for an M4 band in the near future.

Youthful investment

That long term investment in youth was something Dewi Griffiths spoke about to 4BR in the aftermath of victory.

"There is a great set up at Melingriffith with a real investment in young players. We are trying to develop as many as we can for the future of all the organisation’s bands, and today they were fantastic. All their hard work of the past seven weeks paid off.2

Style

That victory came on a test piece that certainly caused no end of problems for the 19 bands that took to the stage, as adjudicators Stan Lippeatt and Barry Thompson told 4BR:

"It was a tough test for all of them today," Stan said. "The top two got to grips with the style, and showed control, but not many conductors got in to the French inspired style of the music. Some took it at speeds that made you think they were running into battle not marching."

Barry agreed: "Not a lot of bands managed to portray the drama of the piece," he said. "It’s a real classic that requires an appreciation of style – not just the playing of the notes. The top two did that for certain."

Challenge

For the winning MD, style and substance mattered. "The piece was a challenge for us and I’m very grateful for the help and advice Ian Porthouse gave me. It took great deal of hard work to prepare for the contest and everyone did me proud. We’ll definitely celebrate but we have a local contest in two weeks time, so the hard work isn’t over quite yet."

The band’s young soprano player Aled Jones-Pritchard was one young player to benefit from Ian’s ongoing help and advice (Ian sat as a bumper up soprano on the day) as he played his part in full to deliver all the major solo lines to take the ‘Best Instrumentalist’ Award.

It took great deal of hard work to prepare for the contest and everyone did me proud. We’ll definitely celebrate but we have a local contest in two weeks time, so the hard work isn’t over quite yetDewi Griffiths

Early marker

M2’s winning performance came late in the day, after New Forest Brass under the direction of Ian Luxford set an early marker off the number 7 draw. That looked as if it was going to head the field to the winning line, but the Welsh outfit just pipped their fine effort as the penultimate band of the contest.

Earlier it was Rushden Town under Martin Dawson who produced a solid account to end third, whilst notable performances also came from the top six prize winners of Ramsay Town in fourth, Boarshurst Silver in fifth and Dinnington Colliery on sixth.

A full retrospective will appear on 4BR later this week.

Result:

Saturday 24th September
Test Piece: 'Henry the Fifth' — Ralph Vaughan Williams edited by Roy Douglas
Adjudicators: Stan Lippeat & Barry Thompson

1. Melingriffith 2, Dewi Griffiths, (Wales), 18
2. New Forest Brass, Ian Luxford, (West of England), 7
3. Rushden Town, Martin Dawson, (Midlands), 3
4. Ramsey Town, Robert Quane, (North West), 13
5. Boarshurst Silver, David Ashworth, (North West), 4
6. Dinnington Colliery, Jonathan Beatty, (Yorkshire), 10
7. Harwich RBL, A. Sanders, (London & Southern Counties), 12
8. Ireland Colliery Chesterfield, Ian Knapton, (Midlands), 19
9. Dronfield Band, John Davies, (Yorkshire), 5
10. MacTaggart Scott Loanhead, Mark Bell, (Scotland), 2
11. Besses Boys, Jamie Holt, (North West), 11
12. NASUWT Riverside Concert, Bryan Tait, (North of England), 16
13. L.G.B Brass, Ian Stewart, (London & Southern Counties), 1
14. Burbage (Buxton), Steve Critchlow, (Midlands), 9
15. Bratton Silver, Simon Carr, (West of England), 14
16. Golborne, Jason Smith, (North West), 8
17. Hatherleigh Silver, David Hayward, (West of England), 6
18. Kingsway Printers Cleethorpes, Steve Askew, (North of England), 17
19. Abertillery & District Youth, Dean Evans, (Wales), 15

Best Instrumentalist: Aled Jones-Pritchard — soprano (Melingriffith 2)