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 Site © 1999-2008 Rothwell Temperance Band and All Rights Reserved. |
5th March 2006 - Yorkshire Area (Championship)Adjudicators: David Read & James Scott The set test piece for this year’s area contest was Journey To The Centre Of The Earth by Peter Graham. The piece is based around the Jules Verne book of the same name, which chronicles a young adventurer’s decent into a volcano and the caves deep beneath it. It is an excellent, descriptive piece of music, and when played well conjures up images from the book. The piece starts off with a section called “The Summit of Snaefells,” a slow and quiet introduction before moving onto the fast and frantic “Descent,” which features extensive work from the percussion section. “The Wonders of the Terrestrial Depths” then follows before we come to “The Day of Rest”. This is the main solo section of the piece, and features Trombone, Cornet, Soprano, Flugel and Horn solos which then give way to a Euphonium/Cornet duet leading into “The Whispering Gallery”. Here, the band members were instructed to whisper “De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine” (Out of the depths I have cried unto thee) over the top of some atmospheric horns and vibraphone. The next section, “Rescue from the Abyss” reprises the themes from “Descent” earlier before leading into “Battle Of The Antediluvian Creatures and Ascent” in which you can hear the bass section playing the part of the antediluvian (“Antiquated; from or belonging to a much earlier time”) creatures. The piece then ends with the triumphant “Homecoming.” The build-up to the contest was slower than it has been in previous years, with there not being too many extra rehearsals until a couple of weeks before. We had regular dep players coming from long distances, including Dai Hale from Wales and Dave Giblin from Bristol. The piece was very heavy on percussion, and one of the parts was difficult for one person to play so we took the decision to play five percussionists. We were provided with a CD with whispering recorded on it for use in “The Whispering Gallery” and the instructions from the contest organisers were that we could play it if we wanted to, but we would have to provide our own CD player, and it would have to be battery operated. After experimenting we decided that the most atmospheric sound was made with the band whispering themselves, so we decided not to use the CD. On contest day we met up at 3pm for a short rehearsal before waiting for the draw. When it came, it was excellent, with us following on some of the newly promoted bands from the first section. Most of the top bands were towards the end of the draw, away from us. The full draw was: 1. Innovate Skelmanthorpe The band then had another short rehearsal before packing away the percussion equipment ready for the trip to Bradford. We had been told there was an accident on the motorway, and that Stocksbridge were stuck in it, so we made sure to set of early and chose an alternate route. That was also snarled up so we diverted again, but still managed to get to the hall at the requested time. We then got changed, set up the handful of percussion instruments required that weren’t provided, and then registered to play before waiting behind the stage for the previous band to play. We then moved onto the stage and began to set up. For once, the percussion instruments were vaguely where we wanted them, so the setup time was much reduced. The performance was very good, although there were one or two slips from the odd player or two, nothing huge. We were very happy that the band’s sound came across well and we felt we had done the piece justice. The audience reaction at the end of the performance was the loudest we have ever had, and it came from all over the hall rather than just from our supporters. After leaving the stage we then went our separate ways, most to the bar, others into the hall to find their family and friends. As the contest progressed, band members who had gone in to listen became more and more confident that we could get a result from the contest. There were no blemish free performances, even from the very top bands, and some bands seemed to paint a picture with the music much more than others did. When the adjudicators came to give their remarks to the audience, just before the results, they said that they were looking for this “picture painting” and that the top four placed bands had done that. The full results were: 1. Grimethorpe Colliery (UK Coal), Allan Withington, 196 points 7. Carlton Main Frickley Colliery, Allan Ramsay, 189 A fourth place on its own is an excellent result at the Yorkshire Area, but we realised that with Brighouse below us, we were in with a chance of a qualification place for the finals in London. Black Dyke and Grimethorpe were pre-qualified for the finals, due to their top four finish last year. We held our breath, whilst YBS we announced ahead of us and then gave a bigger cheer than Grimethorpe when they were announced the winners. This excellent result builds on top of the fifth at the British Open last year, and is a fantastic result for the band. A trip to Kensington at the end of October sounds very good… The adjudicators remarks were very positive.
Thanks to: Our best wishes also go to Alison Stockdale, who is leaving us to have a baby. The very best of luck to you. We now look forward to the Masters contest in May, playing Paganini Variations, a piece we have played twice and won on twice. Tim Sawyer “Can I have your attention please!” |