Cory continues to stretch the boundaries of brass band entertainment after claiming their third Brass in Concert title in four years in Gateshead on the weekend.
Under the direction of MD Philip Harper they also bagged a cabinet bursting haul of silverware to go with the £5,500 first prize package, as they rounded off in triumph an exhausting weekend of high-profile performances at two of the nation's iconic musical venues.
Forecast
As many pundits forecast, The Sage hosted a battle between the heavyweight contenders of Cory and defending champion Grimethorpe Colliery — both of who performed at a packed charity concert at the Royal Albert Hall less than 24 hours earlier — over the destination of the title.
Led by Dr Robert Childs, the British Open champion pushed their Welsh rival all the way to finishing line, with their hopes of retaining the title dashed by the award of a surprising 9th place from Cpt Andy Gregory, one of the two Entertainment & Presentation judges.
In a contest that featured 11 performances of innovation and tradition, Flowers neatly fused both together in their programme that tried to 'define' the history of the brass band movement in less than 25 minutes to eventually come third, whilst contrasting approaches from Virtuosi GUS, Reg Vardy and Leyland filled the remaining top six places.
Thrilling
There was to be no denying the National Champion however, as Cory delivered their superbly presented set in thrilling fashion.
Based on the elements of Fire, Air, Water and Earth it was a wonder that they didn't induce a power-cut at Sage Gateshead such was the surge of musical electricity generated on stage, as they gained first and third places from David Thornton and Frode Rydland for 'Quality of Performance', backed by another first for 'Programme Content' from Les Neish, and second and first from Steve Walker and Cpt Andy Gregory for 'Entertainment & Presentation'.
Gasping
It left the audience gasping in admiration and rivals (Grimethorpe apart) gasping a distance in their wake — although a very proud Cory MD later revealed to 4BR that the thematic content wasn't finalised until later than usual for the band.
"This has been a memorable victory for many reasons — not least the amazing commitment and dedication of the players,"Philip Harper said.
"I don't want to think of how many miles have been covered by everybody this weekend, which started very early on Saturday morning — but that is what these fantastic musicians do week in week out because of the pride they have in playing for Cory Band."
Harold
As to the programme, Philip acknowledged that he'd wanted to use the music from Berlioz's 'Harold in Italy', but that it posed a dilemma as to what direction to take the programme theme.
"That became clear the more I worked on it — the pieces acting as companions to each other leading the listeners towards the Berlioz climax. You have to work very hard in making a coherent programme link as well as contrast its defined themes, so that's why we took a little extra time on making sure this was just right."
Chilling
Chillingly for rivals he added: "It was a programme that asked a great deal of the band, but that's something they thrive on.
To think that they walked off the stage at the Royal Albert Hall at 11.00pm on Saturday night and around fifteen hours later produced a performance such as that is the ultimate reflection of their professionalism. Now the planning starts for next year."
Prizes
Cory made their way back to their Rhondda once again weighed down with the Yamaha Newsome Brass in Concert Trophy accompanied by those for 'Best Programme Content' and 'Best Entertainment & Presentation' alongside individual awards to the 'Winning Conductor', 'Winning Band Secretary', 'Best new Composition or Arrangement', 'Best Percussion Section' and 'Best Trombone' and 'Best Horn', which went to Chris Thomas and Ailsa Russell.
Puzzle
For fans of defending champion Grimethorpe Colliery it was a case of puzzlement as well as acknowledgment that on this occasion their usual sure-fire entertainment approach didn't quite tick the boxes of the judges as they might have expected.
Based on the theme of 'Oceans and Seas' in a set that included five world premieres, the Yorkshire band took topped the aggregate scores of the two judges for 'Quality of Performance' and came second on 'Programme Content'.
Ninth place
However, despite another first place award from Steve Walker for 'Entertainment & Presentation' that lowly 9th place finish from Capt Andy Gregory saw potential victory turn into a second place finish. Third place would have given them victory.
It left some Grimey fans more than bemused as they left the Sage on Sunday evening, although sportingly they did offer their congratulations to their Welsh rivals.
The band was consoled by a prize package worth £3,200 and awards for 'Quality of Performance' and 'Best Basses', as well as Kevin Crockford being crowned 'Best Soprano' for a record fifth time, and Roger Webster surprisingly taking his first 'Best Principal Cornet' trophy.
Crowd pullers
Despite the arguments for and against the inclusion of Cory and Grimethorpe with the assistance given by the contests organisers of prescribed draws and additional travel expenses, there was little debate incurred that the inclusion also highlighted the fact that they remain perennial crowd pullers thanks to their polished approach to the contest genre.
That was perhaps best displayed with Flowers led by Paul Holland, in third place — with an innovative theme that just lacked that extra degree of sheen in construction and delivery to push their counterparts closer.
History tour
The linked five movement, 'Symphony Number 1 — Definity' by Jonathan Bates was something of a banding musical history tour, which featured yet another 'Best Soloist' performance from the remarkable David Childs as well as a deserved 'Best Flugel' contribution from Will Norman.
However, some sloppy time keeping allied to questionable historical inaccuracies and thematic weaknesses just tarnished yet another demonstration of Flowers increasingly imposing major championship credentials.
New York
Behind them came Virtuosi GUS who opted for a theme inspired by New York, which mixed and matched elements as diverse as the population of the city that never sleeps, whilst Reg Vardy headed in a totally different geographical direction with their set based on the music of Danish composer and arranger Jacob Vilhelm Larsen.
The final top six place went to Leyland, who opened the contest on the stroke of 10.00am with an eclectic set, complete with a 'Best Baritone' contribution from Ashley Jeffers as well as nifty bit of a cappela accompaniment singing.
Wine
Although the final results list was fairly predictable, there was much to enjoy from each of the 11 contenders, with Woodfalls overcoming a malfunctioning wine bottle to end a very creditable seventh, whilst Hammonds Saltaire showed the audience the rich musical possibilities that could be explored in the future here with some wonderfully evocative Indian music featuring soloist Shri Sriram.
Meanwhile, Alan Morrison bid farewell to East Yorkshire Motor Services with a crowd pleasing reprise of their recent 'Americana' themed Bolsover programme, which could have taken the Entertainment & Presentation prize had it been left to the audience to decide.
Alice in Wonderland
In completely different entertainment take, Wingates headed down the rabbit hole with an enjoyable take on the fantasy world of 'Alice in Wonderland' (one that certainly tickled the fancy of Lewis Carroll fan Cpt Andy Gregory who placed them second), whilst a polished set from Friary Guildford may have ended eleventh, but certainly showed their commitment to making an impression on their BiC debuts.
Periodic table
With such a wide variety of thematic elements, a close scrutiny of the complex periodic scoring table would have made interesting reading for fans of all the bands as they made their way home after yet another well run BiC event.
Supporters of Grimethorpe left rueing their fate, although the majority of neutrals who 4BR spoke to wondered if the result really was as close the points tally suggested — as they felt Cory to be a clear cut victor.
Exceptional
It was the judges that mattered though — with Quality of Performance adjudicator David Thornton later telling 4BR that the top bands were 'exceptional', although he did feel that at times with others the solo voices were a little lost amid the ensemble accompaniment.
Meanwhile, Entertainment adjudicator Steve Walker commented on how much the contest had changed in recent years, although he also pointed out that presentational details such as the use of the multi-media screen sometimes lacked clarity of thought and detail.
Content judge Les Neish added that he felt that the contest broke into three defined segments: those bands which knew exactly what they wanted to achieve with their programmes, those who had ideas but couldn't quite bring them off, and those who opted for a more limited approach.
Small or big
No such problems for Cory though, as they once again showed the rest of the banding world the way ahead — no technical detail too small to be ignored (including the way their notes were presented in the programme) no musical impression too big to be given the full world number 1 ranking treatment.
Their victory capped a fine weekend of music making at Sage Gateshead (including an excellent Saturday of entertainment) — which bodes well for the 40th anniversary of Brass in Concert in 2016.
I don't want to think of how many miles have been covered by everybody this weekend — but that is what these fantastic musicians do week in week out because of the pride they have in playing for Cory BandMD, Philip Harper
Results
Adjudicators:
David Thornton & Frode Rydland (Music-Quality of Performance)
Les Neish (Programme Content)
Steve Walker & Captain Andy Gregory (Entertainment)
Philip Cobb (Soloist)
Music/Music/Content/Entertainment = Total
Thornton/Rydland/Neish/Walker/Gregory = Total
1. Cory (Philip Harper):
(1) 60pts/ (3) 54pts/ (1) 40pts/ (2) 19pts/ (1) 20pts = 193
2. Grimethorpe Colliery (Dr Robert Childs):
(2) 57pts/ (1) 60pts/ (2) 38pts/ (1) 20pts/(9) 12pts = 187
3. Flowers (Paul Holland):
(4) 51pts/ (2) 57pts/ (6) 30pts/ (3) 18pts/ (5) 16pts = 174*
4. Virtuosi GUS (Adam Cooke):
(5) 48pts/ (5) 48pts/ (3) 36pts/ (4) 17pts/ (6) 15pts = 166*
5. Reg Vardy (Russell Gray):
(3) 54pts/ (7) 42pts/ (5) 32pts/ (7) 14pts/ (3) 18pts = 160
6. Leyland (Thomas Wyss):
(6) 45pts/ (6) 45pts/ (8) 26pts/ (6) 15pts/ (10) 11pts = 142
7. Woodfalls (Paul Lovatt-Cooper):
(9) 36pts/ (4)51pts/ (9) 24pts/ (11) 10pts/ (7) 14pts = 135
8. Hammonds Saltaire (Morgan Griffiths):
(7) 42pts/ (8) 39pts/ (7) 28pts/ (9) 12pts/ (11) 10pts = 131
9. East Yorkshire Motor Services (Alan Morrison):
(8) 39pts/ (9) 36pts/ (11) 20pts/ (5) 16pts/ (4) 17pts = 128
10. Wingates (Paul Andrews):
(11) 30pts/ (10) 33pts /(4) 34pts /(10) 11pts/ (2) 19pts = 127
11. Friary Guildford (Chris King):
(10) 33pts/ (11) 30pts/ (10) 22pts/(8) 13pts/ (8) 13pts = 111
*two points deducted, time penalty
Individual awards
Don Lusher Trombone: Chris Thomas (Cory)
Harry Mortimer Best Principal Cornet: Roger Webster (Grimethorpe Colliery)
The Fesa Trophy for Best Flugel: Will Norman (Flowers)
The Gateshead MBC Trophy for Best Soprano: Kevin Crockford (Grimethorpe Colliery)
The Louis and Colin Johnson Trophy for Best Percussion Section: Cory
Best Euphonium: David Childs (Flowers)
Best Horn: Ailsa Russell (Cory)
Best Baritone: Ashley Jeffers (Leyland)
John Fletcher Best Basses Award: Grimethorpe Colliery
Best Entertainment and Presentation: Cory
Best Programme Content: Cory
Quality of Performance: Grimethorpe
Best Soloist: David Childs (Flowers) — Zigeunerweisen
New Composition/Arrangement Award: Christopher Bond (Aristotle's Air)
Winning MD: Philip Harper
Youngest Player: Elliott Mountford, Friary Guildford (15)
