If you are looking for any past form to back your pre-contest predictions, then Philip Sparke's 'Music of the Spheres' offers a bit of essential information to beat the brass band bookies.

It has however only been played as a set-work at a contest on one occasion — and that was in France in 2018 won by Paris Brass Band.

It has though been played 151 times as an own-choice selection — most notably by the then Yorkshire Building Society Band in helping them to the 2004 European Championship title conducted by David King.

Success

Since then it has been played around the world, but of the bands and conductors that appear at Symphony Hall this weekend surprisingly few have tasted success on it.

It took Yorkshire Building Society five years to perform it again after their European victory, as they won the 2009 Northern Open as Hammonds under Morgan Griffiths.

Brass Band Willebroek and Frans Violet have enjoyed three victories in six performances — although you have to go back to the 2012 Flemish Open for the last time they dusted it off.

Nicholas Childs conducted Gothenburg to win the 2006 Swedish Championship and Russell Gray led Concord Band to the Danish Championship title in 2010.

The then Reg Vardy (now EverReady) performed it to win the Dr Martin Contest in 2014.

Missing out

Others who have used it without success include the cooperation band (as Scottish Co-op) at the Scottish Open in 2005, Hepworth at the English Nationals in 2011 and Aldbourne at the SWBBA Contest in 2017.

Those who have conducted it but without winning include Frans Violet, Allan Withington, Ian Porthouse, Russell Gray, Nicholas Childs, Jason Katsikaris, David Morton and Paul Holland, although Ryan Watkins used part of it to win the UniBrass Trophy title on it in 2019 with the RNCM Band.

Adjudicator success

Meanwhile, adjudicator Arsene Duc led Brass Band Fribourg to success on it at the 2005 and 2007 Swiss Nationals and to become runner-up at the 2006 Europeans.