Cornet player and brass tutor Mark Rodgers gives us an insight into the band world with his column, Brassed Off.
IT IS Easter already and the start of this year seems to have flown by. Several older music colleagues have often said the days and weeks don’t seem to be as long as they used to be, perhaps an indication of changed lifestyles and increased work demands.
The weeks leading up to the Area Contests at the start of March may have flown by for some but dragged for others. One factor can be a player’s opinion of the contest piece for their section. Love it and things are great, but if you are not so keen on the music, it can be torture. How preparations go up to the big day can also have a bearing.
Even though the ‘Areas’ were only a few weeks ago, they seem to be long gone now. Perhaps this stems from the relief of a return to performing normal concert repertoire after weeks of hammering the same ten-minute piece. Let’s look how all this musical hammering worked out for our local bands.
Unfortunately there are no tales of stunning victories nor of any visits to the National Finals in September. Saddleworth’s only results of note came from the Greenfield end of the district.
Both Boarshurst and Greenfield bands continued their steady progress by coming fourth in the Third and Fourth Sections respectively. These results came in strong sections and you really do have to feel for Boarshurst as they missed out on qualification to the Finals by just the one place. A slightly different order of play or different adjudicators on the day may have made this a happier story.
Of our other competing bands, Delph were the only ones to gain a top ten finish, coming ninth out of sixteen, as the rest found the going tough or fell fowl of ruthless adjudicators.
The main plaudits of the day went to our neighbouring bands, with Ashton and Oldham (Lees) claiming the bragging rights in Section One and Mossley achieving an almost inevitable Second Section victory, in keeping with their recent excellent form.
Finally, away from the contest arena and pointing towards the summer months, I am pleased to announce that Sunday afternoon brass band concerts will soon be returning to the area. Delph will finally have its own fortnightly outdoor concerts too, the mastermind of new White Lion landlord, Carl Benton. Look out for further details next month.
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