FAMOUS BAND IN LEVIN

Chronicle (Levin), 12 February 1948, Page 4

FAMOUS BAND IN LEVIN

Mdbourtte Gumlgialioh Gives Pleasing Recital The Hawthorn Salvation Army Band from Melbourne, which is making a 16-day tour of New Zealand, stppped tfiis morriing .to .give the residdnts of SLeydn a s^prt re.cital of music. .Apart from theperformanqe ^dven in Wellington last night, this- -was the band's first pia its tour. Tn'al' ;gesture ,was appr,eciated by tlie ".citizieris of this tpwn ^vfdent, ;as ;a large crpyrd .gath.aiied in .(^upen 'Stre.et. tb heg-f recital. jt -may be said th(at blefpre feas $ "bapd with spch .qh^lity of |6ne §&$ -fine interpre^tfpn oi piusic bqen ^ "•The first piece the b,and played W.as '"Ifee "Red Spiie^d," ^/d^ightfpl m^rch * ".co'mposed by Rrf$iadier Gbffln, who'as tray.ellinf with %e bapd t,pr -pairt* of its iopr. He .qompp'sed f t w^ile stationp'd af Foxtpn "in 1920, and it is ,one of his best knowri. This was fpllowed with "The Arniy .of Epianuei," ;a •compositipn •Written by an Australfan, R^nd.mas|er Guliidgc, wbio, togemer ydtb mahy ^embers of his "^as drowned ,d.\iring the w?,r w ben -.9®. Americah submarine * acCidentally sunk a Jtapanese prison sbiP PP wihicdi they w.ere trayelling: Tiie prolpiiged appl^use of. the crojyd tgaye an "indicatipp of its .apprecfation of the band's* e^prt. * • •

Tpp mu'ch could -not pe said of thc band's rendering of tlie hymn "Wlarrington." Perhaps no other band • in' the world is -more adept at playing hymns than a .Salvation Army Rand. True to this traififipn, th,a j Hawthorn bapd pfayed the hymm with -grseat ,deP'Ih of -feeiing. Another march written by Brigadiei- Goffln while in Foxton y/as '"'Tlie New Zealand Warrior." It incorporates the traditional Maori . .melody and, as- the Brigadier himself said,' "d't is phl-y with difacwl-ty .that Mao/lis refrain frpm bre.akinginto a'nika -when it is 5eing played." As a finale -the band played a, classical selection, "The , Pilgrim' Way,'-' by ,Er;ic Rall, a member of the Salvation Army and one of the foremost brass band composers and " adjudica.tofs in Great Britain. It m'cqrpprates with it a prayei', "God B.e With* .Me," and was a fitting test for each section of the "band. This piece .is very sel'dom attempted by a brass band and dempiistrafed the control Bandmaster Stevens has oyer his band. After ,the re.cital the band played the Nptfonal Anthem and was then inyited to mbrning tea by the ' Mayor,' Mr. H. B. Rurdekin.