Although it would be almost impossible to verify, you suspect news of Woodfalls' victory in the Senior Cup was met with an ironic smile of satisfaction by Dr Nicholas Childs as he sped home in his car to Yorkshire on Saturday night.

Pleasure trip

It hasn’t been a vintage year of success so far for the Black Dyke Director of Music, so a victory, although not entirely eradicating the disappointments of Bradford and Oslo of late, will have made the journey across the tiring M62 a little more pleasurable.

Great time

Speaking to 4BR he later said. "I have such a great time conducting the band on my visits, that the short trip home from Blackpool flew by after they played so well.

The win is a credit to the band and the commitment and effort they gave in preparing the piece. I’m delighted for them."

Deserved

After securing qualification to the National Finals at Albert Hall later this year, Woodfalls deservedly claimed their second Senior Cup success in four years by producing a finely structured performance of ‘Capriccio Italien’ to beat off the challenge of an impressive East Yorkshire Motor Services conducted by Alan Morrison.

Their experienced soprano star Kevin Donaldson gave a thrilling display of high-wire filigree work to claim the ‘Best Instrumentalist’ award.

According to adjudicator David Read MBE (who was in the box with Adrian Morris), the pair were ‘a little way above’ the rest of the 18 strong field, with the delighted brace of Burry Port Town and Unite the Union (City of Sheffield) joining them one step closer to the British Open in the Grand Shield next year.

Aveley & Newham and Staffordshire claimed the remaining top six places, with Felling, Kingdom Brass, Tylorstown and Blackburn & Darwen pushing their way into the top 10.

At the other end of the results table, Bo’ness & Carriden and Wakefield Metropolitan fell through the trap door to the Senior Trophy with Freckleton and Lochgelly, who failed to make it to the starting line up.

Proud President

There was no happier man in the entire Winter Gardens than 90 year old Ken Worgan, who marched onto the stage at a tempo as brisk as Woodfalls' ‘Capriccio’ finale, to lift the Senior Cup as a proud President of the West of England band.

"We’re delighted," he told 4BR. "It was wonderful to have Dr Childs back down with us this week. We have a great musical relationship with him and he certainly brings the best out of us – especially today. It was a superb performance."

Meanwhile, Band Chairman Kevin Woods added: "We have enjoyed a fine year so far and have now met two of our top objectives – to get to London and take a step closer to a return to the British Open."

Mayhem

In a contest that saw Derek Broadbent’s brightly coloured arrangement cause as much mayhem as Silvio Burlesconi gate-crashing a 18 -30 weekend holiday break in Rome, David Read’s pre-results analysis emphasised the difficulties posed by both its adherence to the original orchestral pitch and deliberate lack of tempo markings.

The tricky four and five sharp key signatures caused problems he said from the opening cornet fanfares, whilst the lack of prescribed tempo markings, although ignored purposefully by orchestral maestros, proved problematic for unwary or over ambitious conductors on the day.

Key problems

Speaking to 4BR, David later said. "Intonation was a problem with the F# — C# fanfare combination in the opening causing immediate difficulties.

I also listened to numerous orchestral recordings of the work that had so many different tempo choices, so they only became a real concern when the bands couldn’t play to the choices made by their MDs."

Adrian, who has performed the piece with the Halle and other leading orchestras on numerous occasions, was in agreement with his colleague.

"The technical issues, although tricky, could have been sorted out better, and some of the part swapping was noticeable for us. Some of the tempos chosen though were questionable – they just robbed the music of the style required."

He added: "The top two bands were excellent, and it was obvious the conductors knew what style and pace was required to make the music flow."

Reasons

One MD who certainly did that was Alan Morrison with East Yorkshire Motor Services, who later told 4BR that one of the main reasons behind his band’s success was having a settled team of players.

"It was a difficult piece to get to grips with to start, but being able to have full band rehearsals and having players who want to be part of improving the band, such as Kevin on sop really helps."

He added: "I knew we were playing well, despite the disappointment of the Area result. To qualify so well against such an evenly matched field has given us a huge boost as we look forward to Whit Friday and then to the Scottish Open once more."

Cold comfort

With the set work testing the contenders to the full, there was some sympathy for the bands that had to play in what was a cold Pavilion Theatre throughout the day.

However, there would have been a warm glow of delight in both West Wales and South Yorkshire as Burry Port under Nigel Seaman maintained their run of recent good form with Unite the Union (City of Sheffield) conducted by Derek Renshaw showing further evidence of their developing top flight quality to gain promotion to the Grand Shield in 2014.

Nerves

For others however the dead acoustic meant that any misplaced contest camouflage work, nervousness or unforced errors were easily identified in the box – something not lost on the arranger himself, who listened to the bands throughout the day.

Faithful

Derek told 4BR: "I wanted the piece to be as faithful as possible to the original, so that’s why it was perhaps difficult for some today in an acoustic that made things sound very clear.

The understanding of the style required to make the music come to life was crucial and the technical issues should have been well within the capabilities of bands at this level."

The top two bands were excellent, and it was obvious the conductors knew what style and pace was required to make the music flowAdjudicator, Adrian Morris

Results:

Senior Cup:

Test Piece: Capriccio Italien Op 45 (Tchaikovsky arr. Derek M Broadbent)
The Pavilion Theatre

Adjudicators: David Read MBE & Adrian Morris

1. Woodfalls (Dr Nicholas Childs)*
2. East Yorkshire Motor Services (Alan Morrison)*
3. Burry Port Town (Nigel Seaman)*
4. Unite the Union (City of Sheffield) (Derek Renshaw)*
5. Aveley & Newham (Melvin White)
6. Staffordshire (Steven Walsh)
7. Felling (Stephen Malcolm)
8. Kingdom Brass (Alan Duguid)
9. Tylorstown (Gary Davies
10. Blackburn & Darwen (Nick Sheppard)
11. Ratby Co-operative (Michael Fowles)
12. Fishburn (Huw Thomas)
13. Skelmanthorpe (John Roberts)
14. NASUWT Riverside Brass (Ray Farr)
15. Derwent Brass (Keith Leonard)
16. Ashton under Lyne (Paul Andrews)
17. Wakefield Metropolitan (Michael Howley)**
18. Bo’ness & Carriden (Paul Drury)**

Withdrawn: Freckleton (Paul Dalton)**
Withdrawn: Lochgelly (Bryan Allen)**

Best Instrumentalist: Kevin Donaldson (soprano) — EYMS

*Promoted to Grand Shield
**Relegated to Senior Trophy