Untitled

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19179, 9 December 1927, Page 6

In a letter to Mr A. Palliser, president of the North Island Bands' Association, Mr W. Halliwcll, of Wigan, England, who was judge at the last band contest in Wellington, wrote: — "It is difficult to describe just how the bands stand. In a way there are many first-rate bands, with individually good players, and yet the result is somewhat disappointing. In the first place, they have not that solid, even, sonorous, and oneness of tone which obtains at Home, and there is a lack of cohesion in idea and performance. This docs not mean a lack of smartness in attack—some are very smart indeed—it is more correctly described as' wanting in artistic flexibility. In individual playing there is ample evidenco of this quality, but in c6mbination it is weak. I believe if the bands could overcome this weakness they would bo better on the average than the English bands. I say this deliberately, because there seems to be more care taken in the early training of the player. I shall not forget the first competition I judged, which was for boys on any instrument. There were 44 entries, and a good many competed, and it was astonishing to ine how well they played in tune with the piano. There was scarcely any forcing of the tone or sluggish tongueing. There vrerc also many good soloists in the advanced sections, some splendid executants, and a few really fine players all round."