Although the cooperation band's Brass in Concert victory is unlikely to gain the same mythical status as the 1913 premiere of Stravinsky's 'Rite of Spring', in time it could well be seen as one that provided a significant reappraisal of the event's musical ethos.
After an era of calorific-high/substance-lite programmes, Katrina Marzella-Wheeler's informed creativity signalled a move towards music making defined by a new level of sophisticated validity. The 'Broadway' entertainment element was not lost, but the balance has undoubtedly shifted in a new direction.
Opening night
'La Premiere', told the story of a seismic moment in musical history — the chaotic opening night in Paris of Sergei Diaghilev's ballet and of the immediate furore that was ultimately underpinned by Stravinsky's genius.
Recollected by an acerbic Coco Chanel (splendidly portrayed by actor Elizabeth McNally as a cross between Dorothy Parker and Cruella de Ville) the piquant mix of classy playing and dry wit presentation hit its mark from the opening bar of Andrew Duncan's 'Conspirator's Overture'.
Euphonium soloist Chris Flynn excelled as the virtuosic 'puppet master' Diaghilev, whilst the tender musicality of Borodin's 'Polovtsian Dances' was engulfed by the chaos of Simon Dobson's 'Riot at the Rite' and the deliberate 'Fake News' celebration evoked Lucy Pankhurst's snake-oil quintet. The finale of the Edith Piaf classic 'Hymne a l'Amour' played with passionate malleability, topped things off with perfect gallic savoir faire.
The key however was that each element was intrinsically linked — not through tenuous association, but by substance of thematic motif; little amuse-bouche nods and winks to more meaty chunks of appreciation and quotation. The longer the audience was immersed the more the concept spoke with eloquent substance.
On the lips
Long after they performed, the cooperation band was the repeated name on lips when it came to the pre-results airing of opinions. The resultant victory (with prizes for Quality of Performance, Best Principal Cornet and Flugel) was as deserved as it was acclaimed in taking the £4,000 first prize with an imposing authority whose deceptive subtlety was not lost on a packed audience — and on future BIC competitors.
Diaghilev was reportedly a man whose driving ambition "caused a ferment" through Europe and beyond. Katrina Marzella-Wheeler and the cooperation band may well have started to do that as well with this victory — and not simply because they are the first female conductor and first Scottish band to claim the title.
Fangs for the memories
Only the most ardent supporters of Brighouse & Rastrick will have left disappointed that they missed out on the title for the second successive year. There were very few calls of contesting injustice.
Although the sight of a coffin lid being opened to reveal 'Best Euph' prize winner Chris Robertson as Count Dracula (complete with blood-red contact lens in his eyes) may have led people to believe they were in for something of a pantomime inspired take on the protagonist of the famous Bram Stoker novel, it was anything but — thanks also to their significant shift in musical emphasis led by David Thornton.
From the opening funeral music from the James Bond film 'Live & Let Die', they segued into the demanding German Brass version of 'Toccata & Fugue in D minor' and 'Night on a Bare Mountain' before the tender melancholia of 'Love Remembered' from the 1992 Dracula film and the reprise medleys of 'A New Kind of Empire' by Ian McElligott.
Not everything quite came off in the display of eternal damnation, but it still had an imposing bite that left a lasting musical impression.
Future twist
Less so Cory in third, as the defending champion opened the day with a polished 'third act' from their film triptych homage that has seen Philip Harper take the director's spotlight for 'King Kong' and 'The Magnificent Seven'.
This time he did it again with 'Back to the Future' with a twist — replacing Marty McFly with Jean Baptiste Arban in a race to hit 88 mph and reunite his parents to create their cornet playing progeny, Tom Hutchinson.
It was familiar, classily produced Cory fayre that once again ticked every box without quite achieving top marks, although Tom was unlucky not to end his contesting tenure with the band with personal silverware to his name.
Results glitch
Although the results provided plenty of intrigue for those obsessed by the minutiae of the event's complex scoring system, the vast majority of the sell-out audience remain somewhat blase about its mechanics.
They were more concerned about the flux capacitator glitch in being unable to access the QR code to register their vote for the 'Audience Prize' (many simply gave up) rather than the mix-up over the correct identity of the entertainment and presentation judges' marks.
It was perhaps though a reminder that both elements could also do with a reappraisal of their own for future years.
Best GUS and Crazy Dutch
GUS Band did what they do best here, as they once again raided the dressing-up box for 'Love Beyond the Rose' — a cleverly put together retelling of 'Beauty and the Beast' that also had a marked level of musical substance courtesy of the fine arrangements of MD, Christopher Bond.
A slightly higher placing from Quality of Music adjudicator Florent Didier gave them an extra £350 in prize money from the 'oh so crazy' Dutch visitors of Brass Band Schoonhoven.
Led by Erick Janssen they gave the audience a hugely enjoyable trip around Amsterdam — from an opening fanfare of good intent, to a completely 'off the rails' bit of chemically enhanced night life fun and games.
It was bonkers at times, but gloriously so. The prizes for Entertainment & Presentation, Programme Content and Best New Composition or Arrangement for Simon Dobson's brilliant 'Bring the Bass' finale deserved even more.
Complexity and prescription
Flowers meanwhile just over complicated their cleverly conceived 'Heist' set (one underpinned by compositions threaded by linked character motifs) in trying to give each of the eight gang members their moment in the spotlight.
They eventually got away with pinching the football-sized diamond, but on this occasion crime didn't pay, although a few of the gang (trom, baritone and sop) left with extra swag.
In contrast, familiarity and prescription arguably put pay to Foden's efforts with their 'Exodus: Moses in Egypt' biblical epic. It did however claim the Audience, Best Euph and Horn prizes, even though it never quite persuaded the judges enough to push it higher, and the 'Steal Away' detour into the New Testament left a few old Sunday School teachers a bit puzzled.
Hit and miss
Glyn Williams and the consistent Aldbourne opted for C.S Lewis' Christian analogy with their 'Through the Wardrobe' set, although told through the eyes of a sprightly Mr Tumnus, whilst Carlton Main Frickley's 'hit and miss' 'Eurovision' programme (plenty of ABBA but no 'Waterloo') was a sugar rush of pop (and 'Best Basses') fun.
The youthful Kleppe Musikklag energetically led by Tormod Flaten, couldn't quite repeat their Siddis heroics.
Their 'Wall Street — The Love of Money' set perhaps lost a little bit of its satirist bite at a time when financial belts in the UK are being tightened more sharply than in Norway, whilst KNDS Fairey 'Pictures at an Exhibition' was a large scale production that shrunk in effectiveness when consigned to one major screen to show the immersive animated accompaniment. It also needed a bit of art appreciation narration.
Record numbers
Overall though a hugely enjoyable event (the hall remained remarkable packed all day) once again gave its audience (there were record numbers on the wobplay live broadcast) plenty to talk about.
And whilst we will have to wait and see whether or not the 15th November 2025 will mark the same seismic shift in entertainment attitudes at Brass in Concert as 'The Rite of Spring' did in Paris to classical music in May 1913, there is no doubt the cooperation band and Katrina Marzella-Wheeler have opened the door to the possibilities of at least a significant move in the right direction.
Iwan Fox
Diaghilev was reportedly a man whose driving ambition "caused a ferment" through Europe and beyond. Katrina Marzella-Wheeler and the cooperation band may well have started to do that as well with this victory4BR
Result:
Judges:
Quality of Music A: Florent Didier
Quality of Music B: Benjamin Haemouts
Programme Content: Anne Crookston
Entertainment & Presentation A: Sue Collier
Entertainment & Presentation B: Al Booth*
Quality of Music A/B: Content: Entertainment & Presentation A/B: Total
1. the cooperation band (Katrina Marzella Wheeler): 1 (60)/ 3 (54): 3 (36): 5 (16)/ 2 (19): 185
2. Brighouse & Rastrick (David Thornton): 6 (45)/ 1 (60): 2 (38): 3 (18)/ 3 (18): 179
3. Cory (Philip Harper): 2 (57)/ 2 (57): 8 (26): 2 (19)/ 5 (16): 175
4. GUS Band (Christopher Bond): 7 (42)/ 4 (51): 5 (32): 6 (15)/ 6 (15): 155
5. Brass Band Schoonhoven (Eric Janssen): 9 (36)/ 7 (42): 1 (40): 4 (17)/ 1 (20): 155
6. Flowers (Paul Holland): 3 (54)/ 6 (45): 7 (28): 9 (12)/ 10 (11): 150
7. Foden's (Michael Fowles): 5 (48)/ 9 (36): 4 (34): 10 (11)/ 4 (17): 146
8. Aldbourne (Glyn Williams): 10 (33)/ 5 (48): 6 (30): 7 (14)/ 9 (12): 137
9. Carlton Main Frickley Colliery (Allan Withington): 4 (51)/ 10 (33): 10 (22): 11 (10)/ 8 (13): 129
10. Kleppe Musikklag (Tormod Flaten): 8 (39)/ 8 (39): 9 (24): 8 (13)/ 7 (14): 129
11. KNDS Fairey (Mark Heron): 11 (30)/ 11 (30): 11 (20): 1 (20)/ 11 (10): 110
*The organisers have apologised for a mistake in the allocation of the marks for Al Booth and Sue Collier. These were released with Al Booth as adjudicator A and Sue Collier as adjudicator B as per printed programme. These have now been amended to read correctly as Sue Collier as adjudicator A and Al Booth as adjudicator B.
Audience Prize: Foden's
Highest Quality of Performance: the cooperation band
Highest Placed in Entertainment & Presentation: Brass Band Schoonhoven
Highest Placed in Programme Content: Brass Band Schoonhoven
Best New Composition/Arrangement: Bring the Bass (Simon Dobson) — Brass Band Schoonhoven
Best Soloist: Garry Curtin (Foden's)
Best Soprano: Paul Richards (Flowers)
Best Principal Cornet: Alex Ramsay (the cooperation band)
Best Flugel: Stephanie Kennedy (the cooperation band)
Best Horn: Jonathan Bates (Foden's)
Best Baritone: Eliot Harrington (Flowers)
Best Euphonium: Chris Robertson (Brighouse & Rastrick)
Best Trombone: Chris Thomas (Flowers)
Best Bass Section: Carlton Main Frickley
Best Percussion: Flowers
Youngest Player: Alava Petra (Kleppe Musikklag) — aged 17
Winning Conductor Trophy: Katrina Marzella Wheeler
