An unpublished concert piece thought to be lost forever from the pen of the late Goff Richards has been unearthed by members of the Lanner & District Band when relocating the contents of their library.

Falcon

The hand written ‘The Lanner Falcon’ was commissioned by the band in 1995 and performed extensively, before being misplaced at the back of their library and subsequently thought lost.

Now, almost by accident, it has been found – much to the delight of Band Chairman Lee Rouse.

"We were moving our library a few weeks ago when one of our players came across a large envelope hidden away in the wrong place with the words ‘Lanner Falcon’ on it," he told 4BR.

"I couldn’t believe our luck. Inside was a complete set of handwritten parts – long thought lost – and all written by Goff himself."

Loved it

Lee added: "The piece was commissioned in 1995, arguably when Goff was at the height of his powers. Everyone — players, conductors and especially audiences loved it, and we played it for several years before it seemed to disappear.

Seeing those handwritten parts has brought back some very fond memories both of the music and of a great composer."

Play it again...

MD, Stuart Chappell has decided that ‘The Lanner Falcon’ is far too good to be left covered in dust any longer and so the current band will feature it in concerts throughout the rest of the year.

In the meantime, a slightly truncated version has been put together to use as a march, and will be played by Lanner at the West of England Bandsman's Festival at Bugle on 15th June.

The piece was commissioned in 1995, arguably when Goff was at the height of his powers. Everyone — players, conductors and especially audiences loved it, and we played it for several years before it seemed to disappearMD, Lee Rouse

At his best

Stuart added: "This is Goff at his best. We are really lucky to have our own piece written by one of the all time greats of the brass band world. Playing ‘The Lanner Falcon’ at the start of the contest at Bugle seems very appropriate given Goff’s connection to the event."

The Lanner Falcon is dedicated to Daisey Moyle, who was a long time supporter of the band and even accommodated their first rehearsals in 1965.

Fitting end

Stuart added: "It also seems rather fitting that the piece has come to light again as a result of us moving to our new, purpose built headquarters, as it was Daisey that give us our first base. We won’t be losing it again."