LADS FROM LANCASHIRE

New Zealand Listener, Volume 2, Issue 36, 1 March 1940, Page 8

LADS FROM LANCASHIRE

Bandsmen Who Have Made A Big Noise In The Musical World

(By The Rev.

T. A.

Brady

HE broadcast by Mr. Wright from 2YA must have given great pleasure to all bandsmen and those who are fond. of band music. Coming from Lancashire myself, I was greatly interested when mention was made of the leading Lancashire bands and "Belle Vue," the most historic centre of band contests. Everybody who has any intimate knowledge of Lancashire, knows it to be a very musical county. It produces great singers, great choirs, and its brass bands-are by no means the least production of its

musical genuis. "Belle Vue "-the French for "Beautiful View"-lies on the outskirts of Manchester. It is a very large valuable estate which contains one of the two zoos outside London. Within its grounds are to be seen all kinds of wild animals and animals not so wild. It’s a great. place for pleasure seelsers, for it provides them with every sort of amusement. There are dancing, boating, sham fighting amid a display of fireworks not to be seen in any other part of England. Band Contests But two of the biggest

events of the year are the band contests. One takes place the first Monday in July, when second-grade . bands: compete. The other is held on the first Monday in September when only bands of "top hole" fame are allowed to enter. Twenty bands is the maximum number at each contest, which takes place in a huge cool pavilion that accommodates many thousands. Playing begins at two o’clock sharp and finishes about seven in the evening. At one time the. contest piece was arranged by Sir Charles Godfrey, musical director of England’s great military bands, and it was taken from one of the grand operas. Sir Charles not only arranged the music, but along with two other outstanding musicians served in the capacity of judge. A Village Production One striking thing about Lancashire bands is that they are not the product Of the city or town, but of the unpretentious village and hamlet. The renowned "Besses-o’-the Barn" Band had its birth in a small village near to Manchester. Wingate’s Temperance Band of radio fame belongs to another mining village hard by the cotton city. Irwell Springs is from. a hamlet that sits on the side of a hill where the River Irwell has its rise. These

bands are largely composed of coal-miners and mill-workers, who often enough are employed at the same mine or mill. The greatest band in the judgment of musical experts that ever contested at "Belle Vue" came from a village named Kingston. All its members worked at ‘the mill, and this band had a most remarkable record. It won the September championship three years in succession. Sir-Charles Godfrey was not slow to express his very high appreciation of such an achievement, and declared that it had

reached the very peak and symmetry of band artistry and technique. To sit and listen to these bands is an experience never to be forgotten. And you get more than musical thrills. The bodily movements of the performers are a revelation in themselves. Coats and waistcoats are. discarded, shirt sleeves. are rolled up, and with heads erect the players abandon themselves ‘to the job in hand. They breathe and heave together like one man, so that everything. moves as a piece of clockwork. There is one end only-to express by unity

and harmony the very soul of the music that lies before them. The last of. these contests I attended: was won by "Besses-o’-the-Barn, " the ‘test piece being "Peer Gynt," by the Norwegian composer, Grieg. Debt to Homeland During this Ceritennial year much has been said about the part the Homeland has played in the progress and development of New Zealand. Missionaries and pioneers from overseas have laid the solid foundations of the national and social life of the present, But music too has made a fine contribution, and that has been brought from the Mother Country, The brass band cult of Australia and New Zealand owes its all to the Homeland. When I came into possession of the beautiful Souvenir Programme for this Centennial Band Contest, I saw three names and they were the names of personal friends, the very men who have arranged the test pieces: William Rimmer, J. J. Greenwood, and Ord Hume. Rimmer I often met in the home of my eldest brother, himself a band conductor and judge. Greenwood began his musical career under the baton of the same brother. Ord Hume was another personal friend. Yes, the brass band world is one, and the high state of efficiency reached in one country will sooner or later be reflected in another. And so the day is not far distant when New Zealand will send its brass band to compete at "Belle Vue" and other. centres in England.