Honest Toil

The Marsden Silver Prize Band
Conductor: Alan Widdop
Harmonic Discovery Studios
Soloists: Tony Jaeger - Fozard, Sean Conway, David Woodward
Total Playing Time: Approx 70 mins

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The Marsden Silver Band was formed way back in 1889 and hail from the village of the same name, which can be found on the road between Oldham and Huddersfield and not far from the famous little banding village of Slaithwaite.

For most of their existence they have been a solid if rather unspectacular lower section band, but they have had some notable successes over the years including winning the Senior Cup at Belle Vue as far back as 1961. It has been in recent years however that the band has gone from strength to strength and in 1997 they won the Third Section at the Yorkshire Regional Championships and came 4th at the Finals themselves. Since then they have won promotion to the Championship Section itself and this year put in a very creditable performance at Bradford against some of the best bands in the land.

They also seem to have a taste for competing at the Whit Friday contests, and this year came home with a sack full of prizes and a few bob for the coffers in coming third overall in the Saddleworth area championships. Alan Widdop, the former trombone player at Black Dyke has been the catalyst for the bands success, but a quick look at the band personnel reveals the usual combinations of brothers, sisters, married couples and family ties that are the backbone of bands such as these. You don't get many bands were there are two Woods, two Woodwards, an Eastwood and a Yarwood in the ranks do you?

This CD release is really a celebration as well as recognition of the bands achievement in gaining Championship Section status for 2002 after 103 years of "honest toil" in trying and it is a very nicely put together selection of 14 items that showcase the bands talents to the full. Nothing too difficult and with plenty to entertain, it gives the listener the opportunity to hear a decent, solid and unpretentious band on good form. Alan Widdop directs very well and the production values are very good - from the good acoustics of the Marsden Mechanics Hall (great name that) to the sleeve notes and informative band history.

There is a good opener in Rimmer's appropriately named "Honest Toil" which leads to a workmanlike rendition of Keith Wilkinson's arrangement of "Beatrice and Benedict" which makes a welcome return into the limelight. It's not one of the heavy Berlioz overtures, and the band approaches the playful lightness of the two ill matched lovers in fine style.

Goff Richard's fine arrangement of "Lets face the music and Dance" is well handled and Tony Jaeger-Fozar gives a neat account of Lionel Ritchie's old tearjerker, "Hello". There's further Berlioz in the form of the "Waltz from Symphonie Fantastique" before a neat rendition of the "Polonaise from Rusalka" by Dvorak. Old man Rimmer (one wonders if he ever got any of the royalties from his marches) comes up trumps with the stirring "Black Knight" march before the band get their teeth into Eric Bank's arrangement of "Fest Musik Der Stadt Wien".

The bands two euphonium players get the blue rinse brigade going with "Deep inside the Sacred Temple" in invoking memories of John McCormack and Jussi Bjorling before the band play flugel player, Tony Jaeger-Fozard's clever arrangement of "Beatles Brass". You've got to give it them, even with Ringo Starr in the band, Lennon and McCartney still managed to write some pretty good tunes didn't they?

Gordon Langford's "Worth Valley Railway" is giving an airing from the steam sheds before a well-balanced and rounded account of the hymn tune "Whitburn". The final item is a wham, bang, thank you mam whip through the "James Bond Collection" - definitely shaken but not stirred.

Marsden Silver are a band that has trodden a hard old road to success over the years, and we wish them well as they now take on the best bands in Yorkshire and beyond. On the evidence of this release they seem to be in good shape to try - it shows that you can't go wrong with a bit of "Honest Toil".

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