Band Contest.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 455, 19 January 1905, Page 5

Band Contest.

The following is the judge's (Lieu- ' tenant Her 4) remarks on the playing of the Alexandra Brass Band in the (Quickstep and Selection at the recent wntest, held at Gore:— „ Quickstep—" Amicizia." (Alexandra).— Out of tune at "opening. Melody cqrnet still out of tune. Euphonium not strictly in tune from bars 1 to 14. Crescendo moderately/ well done. Bar 23 and on euphonium much out of tune. Bar 37, quavers for basses, etc., not distinct, Repeat moderately well played. Trio—bars 1 and 2 cornets out of tune. Bars 5 to 20 moderately well played. Bar 22 and similar passages at 30 and 31 not altogether in quavers. Bars 37 to 49 moderately well played. Band improving in repeat, but still much out of tune. This remark applies to bars 38, 43, 45, and 46. Bar 1 and on band improving slightly. Oresc. at bar 13 and on not well done. Balance imperfect. Bars 21 and 22 second cornet out of tune. Trills for soprano bars 33 and 34 ineffective, Tone of this band somewhat coarse. Trio, bar i 2, soprano out of tune. Bar 5 and on cornets indistinct—quaver rest not marked distinctly. Bars 45 to 47: melody cornets much out of tune. Band much better in repeat. Trills for soprano, bars 52 and 55, still ineffective and slightly out of tune. Bars 5 and 9 " 0 " for euphonium flat. Bar 23 and on melody cornets still out of tune. Trill for soprano still ineffective: Taken as a whole a very creditable performance. Tempo very good. Band too heavy in p.p. passages.—6s points. Test Seheotion :—" La Oenerentola/ (Alexandra) Maestoso Bar 1 slightly out of tune. Bar 3, not to« gether. Badly played. Bar 5, much out of tune.Bßa y 7 played. Solo horn very good at bar 8. Tempo correct. Bass not short enough in the staccato work. From bar 9 to 14 ''. moderately well done; dim, not a success. Allegro con brio—Tempo a little too slow. Band not closely in tune,; and overweighted here in basses.! Moderately well done. Allegretto—i Horn solo played moderately well. Made quaver instead of crotchet at bar 12. Phrasing incorrect. Bars 13 to 16 moderately well done. From bars 17 to 27 (duet for cornet and baritone) fairly well played. From bar 28, piano too loud. Bar 33 and on, accompaniments too loud, especially by basses. Balance not good, Baritone and cornet playing very fairly indeed. Vivace —Bar 5 very nicely played. This movement, taken as a whole, fairly played, though not strictly in tune, and the tone was coarse at times. Allegro moderate Best trombone so far. phrasing correctly. Accompaniments rather heavy in piano. Soprano out of tune bar 21. Euphonium doing good work. Accompaniments not together at bar 29 (last chord). Trombone cadenza nicely played. Allegro vivace Correct tempo. Not together at bar 8. Solo cornet playing very nicely Trills for soprano very nicely played. Movement very fairly played. Allegro moderate (cornet solo")—-Crotchets too short, though I am fully aware that they are quavers in the opera. Bar 20 wrongly read. Played as two triplets instead of six even semiquavers Oresc. at bar 30 moderately well done. Bar 34, first B flat cornets and soprano .somewhat out of tune. Cornet solo very fairly rendered. Piu moBSO— Fairly well done, though tone of band somewhat coarse. Euphonium cadenza very well played indeed. Pause for band out of tune. Moderato —Faulty intonation by euphonium at bar 7. Soprano effective in this movement. Quaver accompaniment for horns very effectively played indeed. Movement very faMy played as a whole, including cadenza for euphonium. Allegro vivace—Not strickly in tune, but > nevertheless very fairly played. From N to end of selection very creditably played indeed. At stringendo, crotchets given proper value. On the whole, a very nice performance.—7o points,