WEST COAST BAND CONTEST.

Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 28 May 1901, Page 4

WEST COAST BAND CONTEST.

The weather was as b*d (says the Times) as could be for the Contest, but the fixture was success. Financially, there is a surplus of £lO, the receipts being £l9O and the expenditure £IBO. The feature of the contest was the position achieved by the Westport City Band, which hj.<r. me uuiit ui sum rhvt prizes, won the quick-step, and tied with Dcnuiston for first place in the test.

On Thursday afternoon baritone and euphonium solos- were got off. In the evening tenor horn, B flat cornet?, soprano cornets, and claraonottes nlayed. Eegret was expressed that Mr Hopkinson, of Dcnniston, did not play in the cornet competition, but he was suffering with a soro lip

On Fridav morning solo com petit ions wera continued, with siide trombones, E. fLis basses, and 8.8. flat basses. In the afternoon the quickstep competition took place at Victoria Square. Ov»< 900 p<op!e braved the elements :o witness the contest. The Denniston, Greyrnoutb, Granity and Westport Bands marched from the Town Hall to the Square, where inch played ''The Hustler." Over 1200 people crowded into the Victoria Theatre in • the evening. T'io competition for quartettes was first got off, and than the test selection, "Maria do Hohan," was played by the four bands. There was a great deal of enthusiasm amongst the audience. ■

During an interval the Mayor (Mr Scanlon) expressed appreciation of the community of the spirit shown by the visiting Band?, especially complimenting Greyrnoutb. After the results wsro declared Mr Trussell said the playing, particularly the solos, "was not up to last year's standard. He ascribed the failure to the performers selecting pieces beyond their capacity. It had been perfect agony to him to sit in the box and listen, in some cases, to the multilation of good music. In the test selection he had found great difficulty in separating ' three bands. He pointed out that the custom with ties was to divide the first and second monies between the binds tieing, holding trophies in abeyance.

The Mayor presented the medals to winners.

Following were the gentlemen in charge of tho various Bands :—Denniston, Mr Hopkinson ; Westport. Mr M'Knight; Greymoath, Mr Ashton; Granity, Mr Burton. Tbe drum-majors were, respectively, Lieut Brown. Lieut Marshall, Mr Perkins, and Mr Whitwell. Tbe players in the winning quartette (Denniston) were ;—Messrs Hopkinson, Cooper, Ralph, and Elliot. Following are full details of the results :

B intones —M. Bevan (Westport), 36, points, 1 ; W. Garth, (Greymouth), 35, 2 ; S. Neighbours (Denniston), 34,3 ; A. Brough (Granity), and D.Jones (Westport) 32 points each, 4; W. Munscn (Greymouth), 30. 5. Euphonium.—M Bevan, 38, 1 ; W. Garth, 37, 2 ; A. Young (Denniston). 33, 3 ; J. Goodall (Greymouth), and D. Jones 32 points each, 4 ; N. Christie (Kumara), 30, 5 ; J. Elliott (Granity), 28. 6. Tenor Horns.—W. Taylor (Westport) 37, 1; T. Elliott (Denniston) 36, 2 ; D. O'Neil (We3tport), A. McDonald (Granity) 32 points each, 3. B FJat Cornets.—J. Richards (Westport , 36, 1 ; J. Goodall (Grevmouth), 33 2 ; W. Evans (Greymouth), 31, 3. Sopranos.—V. Robinson (Greymouth), 32, 1 ; L. Neighbors (Denniston) 31, 2 ; E. McKeegan (Westport) 30, 3. CkrionPts.—T. McHeight Westport) 3"), 1 ; W. Wring (Black's Poir-t), 34, 2 ; W. Ballard (Westport) 32, 3. Slide Trombones.—J. White (Black's Point), •' Sond Forth the 0411," 34, L ; <"r. Gooda'.l (Greymouth), " Home Swoct Hiinc, "31, 2 ; J. Dickson (Wistport) " D«ath of Nelson," 28, 3. E Flat Bases.— \. Lockev," " Wiednkchr," 39, 1; G. McDonald (Westport), 38, 2 ; H. Burger, (Kumara), " Santa Lucia," 33, 4. BB Flat Bases.—E. Fraser (Denniston) '• Wicdekebr," 40 1; A. Lackey, " Wiedekhr," 39, 2; W. Cox (Greymouth), •' Long Long Ago," 37, 3. Quickstep Competition " The Rustler"

Test Selection, " Maria Da Rohan."

MUSIC. u o ' a o 'a >> 'a >> <0 u J5u a . Idtormtion 9 9 8 9 Tone 10 10 8 9 Precision ... 9 8 9 8 Style 8 8 9 8 Ensemble 9 10 10 9 MILITARY. Inspection 10 10 10 10 Time 10 9£ 10 H Paces 10 9 *•* n Dressing n 9£ 84 9 Totals 84A 83 8U 80^

a o MUSIC. o ft CO '3 a a> C >> '3 CS u >, a u Intonation 9 10 9 7 Tone 10 9 9 8 Precision 10 9 10 8 Expression 9 9 8 9 Phrasing 9 10 9 9 Ensemble 10 10 9 9 Silo 9 9 9 9 Tempo 9 9 9 8 Totals 75 75 72 67