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 Site © 1999-2008 Rothwell Temperance Band and All Rights Reserved. |
2nd March 2008 - Yorkshire Area (Championship)Adjudicators: Peter Bassano, David Read The choice for this year’s area contest was an old piece, Eric Ball’s Festival Music. The piece was, on the face of it, quite straightforward but it relied on having a good band sound and putting on a clean performance. Once we got to grips with rehearsing the piece however, this analysis proved deceptive with there being several tricky sections and parts that could quite easily be played badly. The percussion for the piece was very old fashioned with just timps featuring in the first and second movement, and the last movement requiring snare drum, bass drum, cymbal and triangle. We opted to play with four percussionists to make the part easier to play. Come contest day the band were very confident after having had an excellent run up with some well-attended rehearsals. All that was required then was to get a good draw and translate the performance in the bandroom to the one on stage. When the draw came through we found that we had been drawn fourth, before the newly promoted Pennine Brass and after Hatfield, two of the less fancied bands in the contest. We had a short break in the rehearsal room before playing a little and then getting on the coach to travel to Bradford. On arrival, we were allowed straight in to the changing rooms below the hall, without the customary ten minute wait in the cold outside waiting for the room to become available. We then got changed, registered, and sat behind the stage to wait for the previous band to complete their performance. Needing little percussion equipment for the piece, stage setup was easy, though the timps were on the wrong side of the band as always and had to be moved to where we needed them. The performance went well, although there were one or two minor problems in a couple of places, and the last few bars were a disaster with the band not playing together at all. All in all a performance that was good, and shone in several areas, but could have been tidier. The band then dispersed to local hostelries, or to listen to other performances, until the results were due to be announced. At results time, the band were announced fourth. There was then an anxious wait for the rest of the results to be announced. As Black Dyke and Grimethorpe had both pre-qualified, the top two placed bands plus these two would go to the finals in the Royal Albert Hall in London. If they were both placed ahead of us, then we would qualify. When Grimethorpe were announced second and Black Dyke first, the band’s cheer was as loud as the winner’s. The full results were: Our congratulations go to the winners and the other qualifiers. This was an excellent start to the contest season. However, it meant the band would have to spend the summer raising funds in order to be able to attend the contest in London. Thanks to
Tim Sawyer |