2007 Australian National Band Championships

Report: A Grade Own Choice and Stage March

Our reporters opinions of the A Grade Own Choice and Stage March

Opening Comments:

Whilst the number of bands playing in the A grade section made for a long Easter Saturday, we just couldn't find it in our hearts not to leave our seats. Every band gave us a very different account of the test piece, and we were very grateful to have been present to see the bands get their chance, after so many committed months of preparation, to show how much of the test piece, and their choice of hymn, they had soaked up in that time. It was an absolute pleasure for us to have been present to have been there to see this.

St Mary's Club Brass

Dances and Alleluias
After a slightly unsteady start the band gave us some nice shading and dynamic control. Here, as in some of the later sections of the piece, we would have liked to have heard a  flowing feel to the faster, slurred, lines in this piece. The euphonium's cadenza and duet with the solo cornet were very rewarding, with some good interplay being displayed between the two soloists, which finally led to the climax of this section- which the band needed to watch their tuning when they got there. 

The start of the muted and faster paced section was just a little unsteady in pulse as well,, and this continued quite a way into this part of the piece, log after the mutes were finally taken out. St Mary's gave us plenty of excitement in terms of volume.  The second and final part of Dances and Alleluias started with some nice blends from the horns and baritones, but again the band just not being as tight with their ensemble as we would have liked them to be. Some slight tuning issues aside, the band gave us an exciting and fulfilling end to this piece, with a great sound with plenty of depth about it.

Viva Birkinshaw
A good lively start from the band with their march. Some good contrasts in dynamics- even more if you could please, especially into the trio.  We particularly enjoyed the edge of attack given by the lower sections of the band during the bass solo. A strong and enjoyable performance.

Glenorchy City Concert Brass

The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
The piece has such a great starting chord, and the band certainly gave us a great deal of intensity with this opening. The following quote from Beethoven's, "Liebewohl", which follows and returns at the end of the work, needs to be as veiled and as distant as possible from the sounds that follow. The to-and-fro between the intimacy and the violence in these two sections is what needs to be brought out, and a little more contrast between these two would have brought the sense of drama even more in this section. The band gave us a great build to the following faster section, but just left us wanting a little when it came to maintaining the drive needed through here. Some of the more technically fast work through this section wasn't quite as clear as we would have liked- especially when the band got to the tutti fugal sections further in. Still plenty of excitement through here, which could have been enhanced further by bringing out the various stylistic shifts through this section- even the ones that are only alluded to within a bar or so.  Getting into the following resolving section, the band took a little while to warm their sound appropriately, but once there they provided us with some controlled ensemble playing.  After returning to the opening material, which we mentioned before, the band finished with some well controlled softer dynamics, before completing the piece with a satisfying finish.

Cornish Cavalier
Some solid playing given to us by the band with this march, with them just losing a little clarity in the softer passages. We would have just liked a little more from the basses- especially during the bass solo. Otherwise, a well paced performance.

Willoughby Band

Blitz
With just some ever so slight untidiness in the opening bars, Willoughby got off to an excellent start, with plenty of drive and excitement present.  As we got to the following section, with the various solos within, the soloists didn't quite move together, and the timing of the band just a little unsteady. Some nice work from the basses before the start of the horn solo, which was only marred by some tuning issues through here.

We felt a little more pathos from the soloists would have further set the atmosphere of this section.  In the following section, and those beyond, the band gave  some excellent rhythmic drive and exciting playing. Probably not what you would expect during these nasty moments, but the sounds coming out were particularly yummy- very warm and very well supported- excellent blend.  As we got into the final duple section, Willoughby maintained the excitement through to the very end, only being slightly hampered by the odd bit of intonation, and a  balance issue during one of the fortissimo tutti moments, with some of the cornet lines getting lost in the overall texture.  Despite this, they gave us a marvelous end to this work, with a very driven accellerando and a gutsy finish. Excellent work!

Knight Templar
A good start, with some nice control in the softer dynamics. A full bass solo sound that didn't get out of control. As we moved to the trio, the band's sense of pitch and timing just got out a little, but was made up for with some impressive vertical movement in the louder unison sections of the trio, and in the closing, and softer, material before the band got to the Da Capo. Despite the cornet just on the verge of getting a little too loud in a few instances, the band gave us an exciting performance, with a good sense of balance and with some excellent ensemble moments.

Moreland City

Shakespearean Sketches
Moreland are very capable of maintaining a good pulse in their playing, as they demonstrated during the own choice work.  A little bit hesitant at first, they were certainly much more dramatic in this material when it returned at the end of the work.  Fugal section- again the tempo was well kept throughout, but as the relevant sections came in one by one with the theme the texture of the section became unclear, with the basses having to work too hard to get over everyone else. 

In the following slower section, the band maintained a good sense of stillness, which would have been further enhanced by a little more warmth in the softer dynamic sounds. The tuning here was also a little fragile at first, but the band straightened themselves out as they grew in volume, and in numbers. As the band returned to the faster tempo in the following section, they were able to set up a good pace, but we would have liked to have seen a little more clarity in the rhythmic phrase that gets thrown around the band. As mentioned above, the returning material fom the beginning was much more dramatic in execution, and gave us a satisfying finish to this work.

Keighley Moor
A steady performance, with perhaps a little more tightness with the faster rhythmic figures, but still some nice contrasts during this march.  A little more blend also would have helped the band to sound more as one during this march, but otherwise a confident performance.

Darebin City Brass

Tallis Variations
Darebin got off to a good start with this piece, with a full sound present. The following slower muted passage just needed more flow about it, but the band made up for this in the later, slower tempo, sections, where the flow and ensemble was better achieved, marred only by some questionable intonation. 

Generally, the band were well balanced, and the accompanying material, especially in the slower sections- such as those that featured the horn, solo cornet and flugel- was very sensitive to the soloist, and gave them plenty of space within which to breathe. Just occasionally did we find the lower brass losing some of their transparency in the softer passages, but their warm forte chorale in the middle of the piece really set up the mysterious glow needed for this passage- great!  In the later duple section we felt that the scurrying figures, found throughout the band but in particular in the cornets, euphoniums and basses, was just a little too unclear. The cornet flourishes, just before this section starts, were well executed.  This was an enjoyable performance, with plenty of intimate and delicate playing in evidence.

The President
There was some good dynamic contrasts with this march, and generally a good sense of ensemble and balance throughout the performance.  Just occasionally did the softer passages lose a little in their intonation, such as in the trio, and maybe the difference between a forte and a fortissimo was lost a little. Otherwise, an enjoyable performance by Darebin City Brass.

Footscray-Yarraville

St Magnus
Generally we found F-Y's sound wonderful to listen to during this piece, but we did wonder if the cornets were comfortable with the challenges within this piece, which are indeed numerous. Also, the band seemed to have some difficulty maintaining the rhythmic drive of various of the faster sections within the work.  Having said all of that, there were some strong performances from the band principal cornet and euphonium, with an impressive performance of the euphonium cadenza. They gave us an impressive finish, prepared from the previous section, and building into it.

ORB
F-Y provided us with a very tight performance of this march, with great thought gone into the musical shape, and articulation differences throughout. They gave us some excellent punch and vigour throughout - especially as they came into the trio. The principal cornet, again, providing us with some very stylish moments in both the trio and the march proper. They only thing we felt worth considering was that some of the tutti piano sections might have perhaps been just a little softer - especially those which suddenly just to fortissimo - to just heighten the element of surprise.

An excellent and throughly engaging performance of this march.

City of Holroyd

The Essence of Time
We heard some solid playing from Holroyd, with a great deal of confidence in their general ensemble, dynamics and musical interpretation.  As with the previous band, we were a little concerned about the workload for the cornets, and they just seemed to be struggling with the material in front of them. There were some nice moments from the principal cornet, euphonium and bass during their solos or moments of interest.

In particular, the prinipal cornet gave us a lovely rendition of the hymn tune, but unfortunately it was not backed up by some sensitive accompaniment underneath it, and as such the solo was not given a level playing ground on which to really sing out to us. Just some further attention to the finer details of the score and bringing out the pulse- and articulations- of various sections of the piece would have helped Holroyd to really get the shape of this piece, and to provide us with an even more entertaining performance than they gave us today.

ORB
As with their own choice, the principal cornet was just left having to compete against an accompaniment that was just a little too heavy for them to really let their lovely solos in the march proper and the trio sing out to us. Good for them to stick to their guns and not try and force their sound through this. Again, it was just the finer points of this march that we missed from Holroyd's performance in the day, which would really take this band from being a good one into a very fine one.

Kew Band

Vienna Nights
An outstanding performance from Kew, with a powerful start before getting into the muted statement of the theme.  Just watch the tuning in the softer muted sections. We just found the pulse a little unsteady until just after the swing section, where the band really started to settle and show us a very stylish and dramatic performance of the own choice.  That aside, from the word go the band displayed some wonderful sounds, excellent balance, and great musicality.  All sections gave a good account of their respective soli sections, and the audience was certainly drawn in by the drama that was unfolding on stage. Kew managed to maintain this almost to the end, where some intonation and tightness of ensemble started to creep in. Still, an outstanding performance, and one of the best that we've heard today.

Mercury
Probably riding still on the adrenalin of the own choice performance, Kew gave us a big, powerful start, just dragging ever so slightly in some of the early softer strains.  Again, they gave us an excellent variety of dynamics and drama with this march.  We were just wanting a little less volume at the beginning of th trio, but overall the balance was impressive, with a lovely flow to the music, with a great deal of polish about it.

Midland Brick Brass

Journey into Freedom
A good, gutsy tempo from Midland for the beginning of this piece, just losing a little of their drive with the more intimate, slurred moments of this section. Just coming out of the march they lost a little bit of their well maintained clarity

Viva Birkinshaw
Some good, solid playing from the Midland here, and we would have just liked to have heard a little less volume during the softer dynamics.  We felt that the tempo just pushed a little at times, and the intonation got a little unsteady in the fortissimo dynamics, but despite this they gave us some good musical shape, and some enjoyable playing.

Waitakere Brass

English Heritage
A nice bold start to the own choice by Waitakere Brass, and generally providing us with some very exciting moments, and some good balance.  They were able to achieve a very nice flow to the slower and softer passages, only struggling with some of the more technically detailed moments in those sections.  We just found the band's tone in the louder sections started to get a little too brittle, due to some quite sharp tonguing, compensating for some shorter interpretations of note values in the fortissimo fast passages. 

Of particular note was the duet between the principal cornet and flugel horn, which was very impressive, and the horn chorale that followed this- lovely stuff. Despite losing their steadiness as they moved to the faster sections at the end, the still gave us an exciting and well rounded off performance of this marvelous work.

Mephistopheles
gave us some very strong dynamics, which started to verge on being a little too harsh. Still, they gave us plenty of musicality, with some very stylish moments from their principal cornet, and some excellent examples of good blend and balance.

Hawthorn Band

In Memorim:R.K.
Hawthorn, seemed to struggle with the tone of this work, not quite achieving the necessary warmth and flow required of the first section. Their second was more successful, some punchy playing through this section, and one of the other faster paced sections later in the work, with some very powerful dynamics being provided by the band. We still feel a little unsure about the setup used by the band, with the front row cornets standing in the area usually reserved for the basses, but this band will certainly inspire some interesting discussions amongst the banding community.

Punchinello
A big, punchy sound from Hawthorn, with plenty of drive, and some good attack from the lower sections for the bass solo. Just some intonation getting in the way here, but otherwise a good performance.

Warringah Concert Brass

English Heritage
We particularly enjoyed Warringah's sound on the day, with some of the best timbres of the day coming from the basses and the bass trombone- in particular the unison that they all have just before the solo in the principal trombone- really exciting stuff which had us both sitting up in our now, crumpled seats (not to mention ourselves).  Just some clipping of notes at the beginning of their performance, but they gave us some sensitive and well thought-out moments during the performance- especially during the slower and softer middle sections. Well done to the principal cornet and flugel for the lovely interaction during their duet.

Arabian
We enjoyed Warringah's playing on this piece, and they demonstrated some nice blend, good dynamics, and the right amount of punch when needed.  Some parts of the band lacked the confidence of their counterparts when they got to some of the softer sections of the march, but still we felt that this was a strong performance from this band, and a big welcome to their return to A grade after a ten hiatus.

Cairns Brass No.1

Of Men and Mountains
It was very pleasing for us to see Cairns make their way to the A grade, and their performance showed a lot of promise for even better things to come. Some good vertical ensemble work was displayed by the band, they gave us some very fine moments and surprised us by some very fine intonation in some of the softer, and more exposed, slower passages. Usually, many bands find these sort of sections to be a bit of a torture- especially if the tuning is right out. Surprisingly, it was when the stepped up to the louder dynamics that the intonation started to give them trouble, but not all of the time. Although not the warmest of sounds that we've heard today, we did feel that they showed a great deal of promise, and we were very impressed with their abilities. An exciting performance, with plenty of merit that kept us all very interested to the end.

Knight Templar
Good vertical movement here from the band, with plenty of punch and dynamics being adhered to. There was just a bit of a trend for the cornets to push the tempo on a bit with their quicker paced material during the first part of the march. A really nice piano going through the trio, and plenty flow to back it up, but just watch that the fortes don't get counted as fortissimo. Another enjoyable performance from this band, which we'll be following in the years to come with much interest.

K&N Brass

St Magnus
K&N gave us some very solid playing, with some good ensemble, once they got over a rocky start. As with F-Y, we felt that this piece was beyond the cornet section with the struggling with more exposed demands of the score. We particularly enjoyed the euphonium, who was particularly outstanding with the cadenza and solo, and the Eb bass solo. Despite a little untidiness at the end of their performance, K&N still were able to maintain their clarity of balance, and maintain the excitement of the piece to the very end.

The Champions
Good ensemble playing here from K&N, with just a few intonation issues within the cornet section. We felt they just got a little quicker-paced towards the end, but otherwise and solid performance.

Brisbane Excelsior

Journey to the Centre of the Earth
There was very little that we could fault in this piece. It was by far the most outstanding performance of the competition. Straight from the first bar Excelsior showed that they meant business- constantly maintaining some excellent balance and colour throughout the entire work.  Particular highlights to us were the percussion section, and the intimacy and intensity of expression demonstrated by the soloists in the second section of the work, with some really magnificent performances from the soprano and principal cornets, as well as the euphonium and principal trombone. From the word go the band brought the drama to us, and carried it to the very last pages of the score. Memorable.

Ravenswood
We felt that Excelsior did not quite fare as well with their march as they did with their own choice selection, although they did give us one of the finer performances today. The principal cornet, so prominent in this march, was just not getting as sensitive an accompaniment from the rest of the ensemble during their more exposed strains. However, the rest of the performance was excellent, with some fine balance during the fortissimo sections- not getting too loud as some bands have done today, and keeping their notes well articulated, and therefore maintaining their clarity of voice throughout. A great performance.

South Brisbane Federal

Harmony Music
The feds gave some powerful moments during the own choice, starting off with a great sense of drama in their performance.  However, they seemed not quite so confident in the slower and more exposed passages of the work. Overall they kept the drive of the work going through the faster sections, only losing a bit of the tightness occasionally, but managed to give us a wonderful finish to this great piece.

The Jaguar
We both noticed that the band was progressively pushing the tempo on- particularly from the cornets and their faster paced material. We particularly enjoyed the horns in the trio, who gave us a wonderful blend. Generally, we were impressed with the warmth of the band's sound, which was a joy to listen to.

Our Predictions:

Own Choice:
1. Excelsior
2. Kew
3.Willoughby

Without a doubt Excelsior were the clear winners in this section. Their performance of Journey to the Centre of the Earth was just outstanding, and a highlight of this year's competition.

March:
1. Kew
2. Xlcr
3. Footscray

We felt that third place was a tricky one to decide, as there were various bands who had given us a variety of things to give merit for, but all very different to one another.