2007 New Zealand Brass Band Championships

Retrospective: A Grade Own Choice

It was still all to play for on the Saturday as the bands prepared to showcase their talents with their own choice selections.

Saturday afternoon, and there was a real sense of anticipation as the A Grade bands geared themselves up for the own choice section of the contest.

Most would surely have known that they were either in with a shout or not after their performances from the day before, but the likes of Brisbane, Dalewool, Kew and Woolston must also have harboured some doubts about their chances after seeking out opinions from the great and the good the night before in the hotel bars.

Most people we spoke to had the contest as a straight fight between these four with most opting for Brisbane or Woolston as the two most likely to win. Kew was perhaps the outsider with Dalewool having many quietly confident supporters too.

The selections from the bands were eclectic and interesting. Works of very recent vintage were mixed in with some older ones and a couple of classics. Nigel Boddice must have had a very difficult task in assessing the merits of each piece in comparison to each other – especially as a number were well played – although it wasn't until the second half of the contest that it really came to life.

St Kilda kicked things off with a slightly below par ‘Contest Music'. It took a while to settle with the cornet section prone to scruffy errors in the ensemble (a real Achilles heel on this piece).

Too much went wrong in the opening movement but a controlled second section brought things back on track with a fine piece of cornet playing by John Lewis (7 seconds on the top C#) and a well resolved ending. The final movement just needed more energy and whilst it was a performance that had its nice moments (and was very well directed by the MD) it never really shone and 10th place, although a touch harsh, was about right.

Ascot Park Hotel Brass also followed with a below par performance – this time on the classic ‘Paganini Variations'. There were extended periods when things appeared to be going well, but the problem was that it was rather lifeless and insecure with the tempi and dynamics all rather much of a muchness.

The main solo cadenzas were OK but the funeral section lacked pathos despite a nice flugel lead whilst the ending was bold, boisterous and a tad harsh. It was all together an average show and 9th place was once more just about bang on the mark.    

North Shore followed with ‘English Heritage', and for the second time in two days showed themselves as a band that had solidly prepared even though the piece never quite thrilled as it really can when played full of brio.

Much of the important cornet work came across with clarity although the famous cornet run up to the top Eb was handed over noticeably to the soprano. Too often though it just needed a touch more vibrancy and in the final quarter it became scrappy and harsh. It wasn't a bad effort on a very difficult work and 8th place was once again about right from the man in the box. North Shore is a decent band with plenty of potential it seems if they can build on this form. 

Dalewool Auckland didn't know it but they were in joint first place coming into the day. Their choice of the recent European set work ‘Elgar Variations' was a bit of a surprise as it is a piece more than anything else about style than technical substance.

Not quite the right style for Dalewool as they miss out on the National title

In the end they delivered a performance that fell into the traps laid by the composer (and ones which he informs the MDs very clearly not to do in his preface notes to the piece). An uneven approach, which at times was high in quality but not in style was its downfall – it never sounded pastiche enough, with the slower episodes the wrong side of syrupy and the louder stuff lacking the reserve and nobility that so characterises Elgar's writing.   The MD got it wrong on this occasion and Nigel Boddice picked him and his band up on it. 5th place was what it got and what it just about deserved.

Just when you thought two bands couldn't walk into the same well marked trap, lo and behold Marlborough did the same thing, although not quite with the sense of overall quality displayed by Dalewool.

It was like watching those horror movies when you are shouting at the teenage girl not to go into the dark room with the creaky door just after her friend has already gone in there and been made dog tucker of.  In went Marlborough, and after 12 minutes of pretty average playing and an interpretation that found little of the Elgar, they too were dog food.

A nice mix of youth and experience as Marlborough take 6th place

How come two very intelligent and musical conductors got this piece so wrong? It's not as if Martin Ellerby wasn't just telling them what not to do, he was shouting it out from the rooftops. It was a lesson learnt for both bands and they could have nothing to complain about. 6th place for Marlborough was as good as they could have hoped for.

Two pieces of Elgar were soon to be replaced by two pieces of Mozart (via Philip Wilby) with both Kew and Woolston opting to play ‘Vienna Nights'.

Kew were certainly stretched to the limit on this one, although there was plenty of evidence that not only did they enjoy the piece but that they had worked their socks off in getting it up to scratch.

Two very smart looking young men from New Zealand: Kew's euph section wait their turn to do their bit in Vienna Nights

There was some wonderful individual playing on show too, although some of the more intricate ensemble work was camouflaged and the Wilby episodes were handled with more comfort than the Mozart ones. The young lady on solo cornet was excellent and it was just starting to build with a real momentum when the Turkish romp just failed to set the seat of your pants on fire. It was a very creditable effort though on one of the most difficult test pieces around at the moment. 4th place was well deserved. 

Woolston were a different band from the day before. Perhaps they had taken notice of what had been said by some seasoned observers in that they felt they had overblown in the set work, because here they were controlled and stylish right from the word go.

MD Graham Hickman produced a wonderful reading from the score and it was playing of a very high class indeed (despite a couple of nasty moments in the tuba solo) as they approached the ‘Recitative' and ‘Notturno' sections of the work.

Giving it his all: Woolston's Nigel Seaton enjoys his bit of Mozart

Here it rocked with individual errors and a sense of unease even if the style remained in place. The final Turkish romp was also a bit of a splatfest too, but it was full of excitement and a huge finish really showed their class and ability to keep something in reserve right to the end. We had them 2nd come the results but Nigel Boddice certainly liked what he heard and put them in 1st. If only they could have played like that the day before then they would have retained their title without a doubt.

Waitakere's ‘English Heritage' wasn't a performance that stood out for us – we thought it very average indeed, but something about resonated in the box.

A Welshman in NZ: Waitakere's Bari Thomos leads his band into the prizes

A messy start took time to settle and thereafter there were intermittent periods of high quality interspersed with individual and ensemble scrappiness that took a great deal of the gloss off the musical picture. Another bit of soprano sub work was altogether too noticeable on the cornet run up to the top Eb and the tuning went completely AWOL in the trombones too often.  The end was overblown for us so we were a touch surprised that it came in 3rd come the results – we had it a few places lower.

Now all the attention turned to Brisbane Excelsior and their choice, ‘Music of the Spheres' – a fair old work to test the lips in anyone's books.   

Here though they had a real trump card in soprano player Steve Stewart, guesting from the Kirkintilloch Band in Scotland. Now Steve can be a bit hit and miss on occasions, but here in New Zealand he was hitting 180's like Phil Taylor. Over the two days his playing was simply breathtaking and although he does play to the hall now and again, on this occasion he could do no wrong. It was an individual performance to cherish.

Back of the net! Brisbane's Steve Stewart on soprano enjoys himself at the end of Brisbane's Music of the Spheres

The band were not too far behind either and after a controlled opening statement Howard Taylor brought colour and excitement from the score as well as a touch of delicate pathos when required. It did have the odd moment or two when it got scrappy and a little overblown, but they showed their class in the final quarter when they had plenty of stamina in reserve to round things off with a real sense of excitement. It was a high class performance in anyone's book – the winner for us, but 2nd from Nigel Boddice. It was however more than enough to capture the title with a little something to spare.

That just left the young lads and lasses from Darebin City Brass with ‘The Year of the Dragon', a piece that remains as difficult today as it did 25 years ago when it was first written.

The Australians really did give it a good old lash though with some exciting playing in the opening ‘Toccata' and a fine effort from the young trombone soloist in the ‘Interlude'. It did have the odd blip and blob for sure, but it was stylish and the MD made sure that the band continually observed the dynamic markings – the chorale in particular was impressively quite.  The finale was a little camouflaged in places but also showed that there was talent in the ranks too as they battled manfully to the end with a performance that benefited from intelligent leadership from the man in the middle.

That was that then and with the results to be announced most felt the Australians of Brisbane had done more than enough to win the title and become the first band from across the Tasman to win the contest since 1936.

So it proved with Kew adding salt to the wound by coming joint second with Dalewool. They would have been disappointed for sure, but their downfall was their own fault and no one else's, whilst the same can also be said of Woolston who learnt their lesson far too late in coming fourth.

Congratulations to Brisbane then and we hope to be in Christchurch next year to witness them defend their title. It will be a contest to look forward to for sure.

Iwan Fox and Anthony Banwell.