With series of qualification events now complete, Kapitol Promotions has announced the test-pieces to be performed at the Finals of the National Championships of Great Britain.

The Music Panel was chaired by Philip Morris with Tim Jones as Administrator. The panel comprised Duncan Beckley, Brian C Buckley, Dr Robert Childs, John Maines and Sandy Smith.

Two new works have been chosen for the First and Second Section, with the Third Section work published in 2020.

Finals

The Championship Final will take place at the Royal Albert Hall in London on Saturday 21st October.

The Section 1 -4 event will take place at The Centaur, Cheltenham Racecourse on the weekend of 16th & 17th September.

Test-pieces

Championship Section: Of Men and Mountains (Edward Gregson)
Publisher: Novello

First Section: St James's — A New Beginning
Publisher: Harper Music

Second Section: Lakeland Variations (Philip Sparke)
Publisher: Anglo Music

Third Section: The Lost Village of Imber (Christopher Bond)
Publisher: Christopher Bond Music

Fourth Section: A Saddleworth Festival Overture (Goff Richards)
Publisher: Studio Music

Championship Section: Of Men and Mountains (Edward Gregson)

The selection of Edward Gregson's 'Of Men and Mountains' ends a 33 year wait for the work to be performed at the Royal Albert Hall.

Originally commissioned in 1990 by The Netherlands National Championships to celebrate their 10th anniversary it was to have been performed at the National Championship Finals in the same year, but was dropped after being deemed "too long".

The title comes indirectly from a quote by 19th century poet William Blake, and is dedicated to the memory of Eric Ball. The work was conceived an allegorical tone poem, inspired by the majesty of nature and the fragility of humanity on a trip the composer and his wife Sue took by rail through the Rocky Mountains in North America.

First Section: St James's — A New Beginning (Philip Harper)

Philip Harper provides a new work for the First Section with 'St James's — A New Beginning'.

It has been commissioned by St James's Church in Piccadilly in support of the Wren Project to mark the 300th anniversary of the death of the acclaimed British architect Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723).

The Parish church was designed by Wren around 1672 and consecrated in in 1684.

His iconic London masterpiece is St Paul's Cathedral, in which he is buried with a tombstone epitaph: "Reader, if you seek his monument — look around you."

The work will be given its world premiere this weekend by Cory Band.

Second Section: Lakeland Variations (Philip Sparke)

'Lakeland Variations' by Philip Sparke was commissioned by the Seeländer Jugend Brass Band to celebrate their 20th Jubilee course in the summer of 2022. The premiere was conducted by Michael Bach.

The region of Seeland (Lakeland) lies in the north-west part of Switzerland and is famous for its three lakes of Morat, Neuchâtel and Bienne.

The work comprises an introduction and 5 variations based on motifs contained in the opening bars; the lakes represented by the three notes of the opening timpani solo, the intervals of which, a fourth and a second — together with a cornet figure in bar 4 — form the basis of all the following variations.

Third Section: The Lost Village of Imber (Christopher Bond)

Christopher Bond's 'The Lost Village of Imber' was commissioned by Bratton Silver Band in 2019 to celebrate their 160th anniversary.

The three movement work is inspired by the story of the village on Salisbury Pain that was evacuated in in just 47 days in 1943 to enable the British Army to undertake military training exercises.

The eviction of a population that had lived and inhabited the area for over a thousand years was deemed a necessity, although at the end of the war it was not returned to civilian use. Occasional church services were allowed, although in recent years people can visit the area on designated 'open days'.

The work was premiered by Cory Band at the 2020 RNCM Brass Band Festival and given its contest premiere by Bratton Silver Band at the SWBBA Contest in November 2022.

Fourth Section: A Saddleworth Festival Overture (Goff Richards)

Goff Richards' uplifting composition was commissioned in 1983 by the Saddleworth Festival of the Arts with a remit that it should "illustrate the link that exists between Saddleworth, England and Saddleworth, Australia."The latter was a township laid out by a Saddleworth emigree James Master who arrived in Australia in 1836.

The overture is based on English and Australian themes — from 'Pratty Flowers', 'Hail Smiling Morn'' and the 'Mowin Match Song' to 'Waltzing Matilda' and 'Advance Australia Fair'.

The work was subsequently used as the 1985 Fourth Section National Final set-work, and has been used played around the globe since — including the Australian, Dutch, Belgian and Norwegian National Championships as well as the National Youth Championships of Great Britain.