BAND COLUMN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2809, 15 January 1908, Page 66

BAND COLUMN.

Notes bt Cobnet. Secretaries of bands are invited to send in interesting paragraphs, also brief reports of parades and otner functions in which their bands take part. All communications should be addressed to " Cornet," Otago "WTtnesß office. Owing to the continued 1 illness of Conductor J. Crichton, who is suffering From a nervous breakdown, which has threatened him for four or five yearsj the Wanganui Garrison Band have definitely decided to ( abandon all idea of competing in fh© test selections at the New Plymouth contest. Several members will, however, compete in tke solo competitions. Mr Cri6hton is at present recuperating in the Wairarapa district. It has 'been generally known that working up his band for a contest entails a great' physical strain on Mr Crichton s anything but robust constitution. A New Plymouth message gives the number of bands entered for the contest as -12 in the A Grade and seven in the B Grade section, as follows: — A Grade — Nelson •' Garrison, .Woolston, Kaikorai, Wanganui, Wellington -Garrison, Mornington, Lyttelton Marine, Hastings, Taranaki Garrison,"Aucikl4md First Battalion, Masterton Municipal. Hauraki. B Grade — Manaia, Marton, Newtown, Palinereton North, , Stratford Municipal, First Auckland Rifles, Karangahake. _ . 'Following are additional entries: — Baritone, 17; fiugel horn, 10; B flat bass, 15; B flat ba6s,\B ; BB flat bass,-l2 ; euphonium, 14; IS flat cornet, 36; soprano, cornet, 14; -tenor trombone, 20; baes trombone, 8; tenor, horn, 27; trombone trio,iul; quartet, 19; drums, 7. , The withdrawal of Wellington, Kaikorai, Wanganui, and Lyttelton Marine Bands from the A section has certainly robbed the contest of a certain amount of interest, but an entry list of 15 competing bands is sufficient for a successful gathering. * It is to be hoped 1 that the remaining bands will all " toe the mark " at New Plymouth. The Lyttelton Marine Band have expressed much dissatisfaction (says the Canterbury Times) at the appointment of Lieutenant Herd as judge at' the New Plymouth , contests and> have decided not to oomraete. The band wish to state that, with the consent of the subscribers, the money that has, been collected to defray lie expenses of the band at New Plymouth will be set aside for the next South Island contest. . The Dunedin Citizens' Band, under Conductor R. Cook, gave the following programme in the Gardens on Sunday afternoon: — March, "Major and Minor"; overture, "'Bohemian , Girl " ; comet solo, "Eventide"; grand -contest -selection, "^temirainide ", (Rossini); march, "Elephant"; ©horus, ♦ " Judex " ; and ■ "God save the King." There was a fairly large attendance of- the publio, who appreciated! ; the playing of the band. . /Che:Citizens' Band is. advertising for lads willing i<s" become members of a junior band. -This -is a capital idea, and it is \ to be hoped that success will, attend -the innovation. Good, bands in England keep i up their playing strength by having a ; junior or learners' band to draw upon for | players. There should he no difficulty in ( Dunedin in securing the necessary number j of respectable lads to form such, a band. ] At a meeting held -on Monday night the j members of the Kaikorai^ Band carried a-j motion to the effect that the band attend ! the Ballarat competitions in October of j i this year. Selected players *fill form the i I band, and the members will be paid wages j during the ihree or four weeks • the band will be absent from Dunedin. It is estimated the trip will cost £500. Mr C. Bollen, of Gisborne. writes: — "Mr Lawrence, of Woodville, has been chosen for the conductonship of the Gisborne City Band. The position has been vacant Ifer some considerable time, jrnd no efforts will be spa Ted to make up leeway, | The band entertained their numerous sup- i oorters with suitable music- on Christmas Eve." The " Cook County Curious Coons ' j serenaded a few of the townsfolk on New ; Year's Eve with a musical programme, which was very well received. These " Coons " are' local minstrels. . i The Gisborne Private Band (Mr D. M'Killop) has made a good start with the New Year, and hopes to give an open-air concert shortly. The band has. the' full ■■ complement of players. * j The officers and members of the Dunedin j -Citizens' Band met the other evening to ; bid farewell to Mr H. D., Campbell on : the eve of' his departure io\ Gore. Conductor "R. Cook, on behalf of the members of the band/ presented Mr C&mpbell^ with a handsome gold medal .suitably inscribed. I .Mr Campbell, the secretary of the Citi- ■ zensj Band, writes to Bay- that- the 'band's ■ share of the profits of the late carnival is not definitely iknown, buj they are assured of enough to place the band 1 _in a soand financial position, besides providing a uniform that will be a pleasure to wear. Mr Campbell goes on to cay : — *' We havo to thank the public for their support, and it was most gratifying to note the large number of ex-members and supporters who came to our assistance. We had intended budding a band room for ourselves, but the matter is being held in abeyance, as fhere is a possibilrtv of our beintr able to attend the Sydney Exhibition in 1910."'' The Bradford Telegraph writes:— We understand that there Is a feeling of diesatisfaction prevalent amongst the members ; of the famous Queenebury Band, known as the ' Black Dike, owing . to the recent American tour turning out a financial failure to "the extent of about £3000. The brunt of this loss is having to be met by the band members, and unless some amicable settlement quickly takes place there are indications that the result will be & terribly ' disorganised band. The members, according to our informant, also claim that they received inadequate remuneration whilst on tour.' As a- , matter ,of faot. they received £2 per week, but 25s of .this sum vfas for the wives of the members, thus leaving 15s for the men in America. But this is not the chief reason for complaint - (says our informant), fo% the scheme of the undertaking was thaiil the men should take out £50 shares. Had the tour been a success they would have drawn a percentage on that amount. But,, as before stated, there was a consideraWo loss on the undertaking, with the resulr. i£»at the men's investment is now worth £13, and on the top of this the bandsmen hjave to make up their share of the deficit. The. bandsmen have now succeeded in raising £700, this being the result pf certain iun&ttnta tiypoCheoa.fea out of their pay

whilst they have engagements in this country. The present Southern and Western tout is understood to have been arranged for reducing the losses on the Americaji Viejt. vWhen in America the band wished to come home before the completion «f the : tour, but they were advised to ro through with ifc. Since arriving home the first and second baritone players, "the second horn ; and repiano cornet have seceded from the j band, and laser the solo horn an-d sojirand j players alscv have severed their connection. 1 and unless something is done to soften the financial burden falling on the bandimen, there is a probability of other members of the band doing the same. It would be a pity if such a famous and oldstanding band — an organisation that has 1 ere now reached the highest position in the brass hand world — should become dis organised thr6ugh a temporary financial trouble. Can our readers make any suggestion for the removal of. the burden on the bandsmen? The LyJffcelton Marine Band has expressed much dissatisfaction Tat the appointment of Lieutenant Herd as judge at the New Plyznouh band contest, and has decided not to compete. , LIEUT. HERD AND THE KAIKORAI > t BAND. ' It haying been suggested that in withdrawing from the band 1 contest at New Plymouth because Lieut. Herd had been appointed .judge the members of the Kaikorai Band were "touchy." Mr Osbbrne._ as secretary, made the following explanation: — "It ,is ■ not against Mr Herd's musical ability that we base our objection-, it' is because his actions at recent band contests have shaiken our confidence in hini very much. ' For instance, at Masterton it was common talk that he got the points out of the judge for the firßt night's play. ' and, to make matters worse, he admitted this at a meeting held the next day. If that had been done Tinder the old Now Zealand Band Association he would have been disqualified, but apparently in tho North Island Mr Herd can do no wrong Again; on unimpeachable authority we arj informed that Mr Herd found out the name of one of the test selections for the las f New 'Plymouth contest, and cabled Hoiro and also to Italy, and thus procured the full score of 'L' Ebro ' before it was given out to the bands,^.thus giving him an advantage-. In the face of this fact .

I we ask the public whether we were- not. ! justified in deciding not to 6pend £209 in : going to a contest to play under Mr Herd , The statement by Mr Osborne having been brought under the notice of Lieut. Herd, he said that the charge against hin of "having got the points out of the judge for the first night's playing at Mas ! terton, and, to make matters worse, ad- ] mitting the facts at a meeting held th-j | next day," was not correct. W-hat dirt j happen was this : Much to Lieut. Herd's j disgust, the judge — unasked for, and in the ' presence 'of Mr J. Dixon, _of England — divulged the number of points gained by the bands on the playing of the first selection. By so doing the judge broke the rules -of the association^ As one- of the ' first members of the executive committee, i and as one who started the association, Lieut. Herd felt it to be his duty to endeavour to have the rules strictly ob- ' served, and he did not approach the judge 'in any way. He felt that it was his duty ! to report the breach of 'the rules, and he I did bo to Mr F. J. Oakes, of Wellington. ' £hen secretary of the association, at th-i same time asking him to call a meeting of the masters of bands taking part in thj ' contest. This was done, the matter was put before jihem, and they unanimously approved Lieut. Herd's action. Possibly j the judge had not made himself acquainted < with the rules of the association, and he ] may have divulged the points' 4 without > knowing there was any harm in- so doing. I In regard to the test piece, Lieut. Herd said it was quite true that he cabled Home for th© vocal ecore of " L'Ebreo " (not the f ulL 6£ore, and not 'Sebreo," as apparently stated in Mr Osborne's letter), but he did not send the cablegram until it was publicly known that the test piece >was to be taken from this opera, and then any other band conductor could have done the same thing. Therefore he failed to see how the Itaikorai Band could substantiate its contention that he had taken an unfair advantage — fov i that was practically wjiat its accusation ' amounted, to. It "«ja,B highly objectionable { to have such uncalled-for charges ac the^e ' made against him, a professional musioian. iphd he was .quite agreeable to have any Investigated at any time. This rmatter raflectefl ttfton his integrity as a conductor" anci a judpre, and he would rey>eat; that all his actions would bear the fullest investigation. ' It was very evident thai a majority <>I the bands ta&ing nart in thie year's contest were quite satisfied as to his infcesrity, inasmuch as on their vote.? he had been elected Jo the position of judge. He wa» weU known, to tfiost of these baftds and their conductors, and hi* i election showed their belief in hijs re-

liability, both bo far as honesty of purpose ' and musical" ability -were concerned.