NELSON BAND CONTEST.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXVIII, Issue 7968, 20 February 1906, Page 5

NELSON BAND CONTEST.

THE JUDGE'S REPORT. \ The Judge's report on the Nelson Band Contest, held during Carnival Week, together witb his full notes oa tbe test selection, marching contest and solo competitions are to hand. The report, which will be read with flbterest, is as follows: "In presenting my detailad criticism on tbe performance given at the above-Damdd contest, I would like to say a few words regarding tbe good points, as also the weak points, noticed during the competitions. ,/ V; . "I was very much pleased with the playing in the solo competitions, but I was at times somewhat handicapped by tbe incessant "banging" of the piano, which, in some cases, was much too prominent.-' I sincerely trnst that our worthy friends, the accompanists, who are addicted to making this mistake when playing accompaniments—will take this bint in the same kindly spirit in swbiob it is given. | "Regarding the selection; "Poliuto." tbe most noticeable faults were incorrect tonaliou. A good deal of this could be remedied by oross fingering the faulty notes. Then, again, in many of the younger bands, there was a lack of cohesion, and good balapoe of tone, especially among the inner instruments (horns, second and third cornets, etc*,. If the bands will pay more attention to the balancing of tone, and given a thorough tuning to begin with, then there will be muoh less faulty intonation and playing out of tune. "Most of tbe solos in the selection with a few exceptions—were rendered with very fair tone, though tbe style was in many oases too stiff and mechanical, and too ireasured. Don't be afraid to give vent to your feelings let yourselves go more freely. "Music is called 'the language of the emotions,' and unless it appeals to your Inmost. soul it is a 'musical corpse,' and more passion, more animation Is required. Now, let us have this expression of your inward feeling displayed in the rendering of your solo. It was a perfect treat to hear the late Mr Howard Reynolds, the celebrated oornettist, play 'Home Sweet Home,' and to notice how correctly he phrased it, and how the strong and weak accents were placed, and the soul-inapiring tone which he produced |had tbe effect of rivetting the/attention of 100,000 people at the Alexandra Palace. Lon'don, where I had the pleasure of hearing bim many years ago. "The trombone solo, au letter F should be played with passion, whereas in most cases It was given very tabiely. Jn fact, whilst in most cases the tone produced by the sploists—£ am referring to all soloists—was fairly good, there were few of them who paid much attention to tona graduations. How nice it is .to listen to an artist of the highly-trained order, who now raises his tone like the swelling flood, and then diminished it almost to a whisper, tbe accompanists following bim faithfully meanwhile. However, ait the same time, it must be pure tone, and full of expression, something that will appeal to the listener. I noticed a great lack of bass trombone tone, and the beautifully sustained harmonies for three ttombooes such as occur in tbw second movement (larghetto), and .which were effectively given by the winning band, and several other bands in a less marked degree, were almost entirely neglected in many, cases. • "Now for the good points. 1 was very much delighted to have such creditable performances from ihe young bands, and the accompaniments, though at times a little out of tune, were, taken as a whole, very creditaoly given. So far as the best bands are concerned, they were neatly clayed and well balanced, and I must compliment the conductors on their painstaking in this respeot. In my detailed criticisms I have confined myself very largely to fault finding, though the many good points ifoted were taken into consideration in making awards. The playing in the march competition was not so good as in the selection contest. Many of tbe bands failed to play iu that nice crisp style whioh characterises tbe, playing of our best bands. 1 "I wish to thank Qaptain S. V. Trask, the General Secretary, Mr McGinnity, the Supervisor, and the Committee generally for the kindness extended to me during my sojourn in Nelson. "I also wish to thank Mr Aiken (stenographer) for his very valuable assistance. L"T. HERD, Lieut., "Judge."