ARTICLES

Live @ the Preston Front - National Finals 2001

Section 3

Saturday 22, Sept 2001
KO: 3.25pm

Test piece:
An English Suite, Michael Ball,
Adjudicators:
Geoffrey Whitham & Richard Evans

The results.
1. Lancashire Life Morcambe 186
2. Horbury Victoria 185
3. Raunds Temperance 184
4. Langbaurgh Brass 183
5. Helston Town 182
6. Bream Silver 181
7. Cantium Brass 180
8. Cwmbran 179
9. Armthorpe Elmfield 178
10. Manx Concert Brass 177
11. Becontree Brass 176
12. Clydebank Burgh 175
13. Foresters Brass 2000 174
14. Beamaris 'B' 173
15. Tullis Russell Mills 172
16. Ferryhill Town 171
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The Draw:

1. Ferryhill Town, Steve Robson
Scherzo. Neat opening with lots of shape. Solo lines managed well and good dynamic contrasts.

Nocturne. Euph does well although slight intonation from band. This and some missed notes affect confidence. Nice sounds though.

Plymouth Town. A little scrappy but with character. Troms struggle a little but things do improve. A nice ending.

Star player. Solo Cornet - Grew with confidence

2. Tullis Russell Mills, Scott Barker
Scherzo. Not quite 'bob-on' to start but nice style. This continues to close.

Nocturne. A bit nervy in places but has shape. Well done sop and euph. Ending gets scrappy though.

Plymouth Town. Poor start and sounds nervy. Many slips detract and the piece ends subdued.

Star player. Euph - kept a cool head throughout.

3. Foresters Brass 2000, Don Blakeson
Scherzo. Not quite clean enough to start but improves. Good balance and round sounds. Soloists play well. Ends nicely

Nocturne. lovely opening. and soloists do well again. but its all getting a bit stodgy! Just needs a bit of tempo... Last note spoilt by perc noise!

Plymouth Town. This has upset things! It's all untidyand takes a while to get going. It recoversand well done Euph. Agood finish to a show that had its moments..
Star player. Euph - neat and tidy throughout.

4. Helston Town, Edward Ashton
Scherzo. A bit lumpy and disjointed for us. It has movement and starts to improve. Well done perc. Neat ending.

Nocturne. Solid stuff. Still lumpy and dynamics are on the safe side. Soloists perform well throughout.

Plymouth Town. Starts well but lacks pace. Clips all round but excellent basses. It sounds a bit of a struggle now and gets overblown a little. Ends with a flourish.

Star player. Euph - very well played.

5. Armthorpe Elmfield, Hadyn Griffiths
Scherzo. Safe opening - a little too accented maybe. Flows nicely and good solo lines esp flug. ends neatly

Nocturne. Continues nice at safe dynamic. fine solos. Too strong dynamically for us though stylish. A little muddy in places and un sure at end.

Plymouth Town. Good tempo and clean. Nice effects but some tuning probs and the heavy accents return. All becomes alittle lethargic but recovers to a decent finish.

Star player. Flugel - well played.

6. Horbury Victoria, Ian Shires
Scherzo. Stylish opening and the dynamics are observed. Really good stuff from a young band. Could bea good one!

Nocturne. Excellent shape and style. Good stuff. 19. This flows nicely and is musical. All links together nicely. Well done soloists.

Plymouth Town. Another good start with lots of details. Playing to commend. A Fine finish. Excellent direction.

Star player. Euph - the best of a fine bunch.

7. Manx Concert Brass, IJG Clague
Scherzo. Up tempo but skips alog nicely. It's safe stuff but lacks sparkle. Not a bad start.

Nocturne. Safe once again andthe tuning suffers. flugel playing enhances things. 19 onwards is much of a muchness. Too stodgy for us. They need to take more risks.

Plymouth Town. It's no frills and no thrills stuff. solid playing gives good impression and there are some neat touches here and there, especially towards the end.

Star Player. Flugel - Quality playing throughout.

8. Beaumaris 'B', W. Fred Evans
Scherzo. A bit heavy and laboured but some nice band sounds. Soloists do their bit, esp sop. Not sure about those duplets though?

Noturne. Sensitive stuff. It doesn't always sit comfortably but nice shapes. Intonation creeps in and it oculd flow a little more around 20-21. Controlled ending.

Plymouth Town. Big for forte but it has clarity. Troms - oopps! It rushes in places and getsa a bit scrappy. move well to the end - only a few blobs detract.

Star player. Sop - Quality playing...

9. Langbaurgh Brass, Tim Oldroyd
Scherzo. Not clean to open and this continues. Neat solo playing but tuning suffers. A lack of detail and dynamics though. Safe end.

Nocturne. Safety as she goes. All very uninspiring stuff. Sop and horn are highlights as the band playing is muddy. 19 onwards continues like this. There is so much that could be brought out.

Plymouth Town. This is more like it. The best playing by far here for this band. Continues to improve to end. A little late possibly.

Star player. Solo horn - top quality.

10. Clydebank Burgh, David Laughland
Scherzo. Safe stuff through here and gets too heavy. It lacks the scherzo style. Too OTT dynamically and in style.

Nocturne. Safe once more. Tuning in soloists is dodgy. Music needs more flow. 19 onwards the style is lost and is again OTT. Nice flug though.

Plymouth Town. It's only forte! Too enthusiastic. It's a little scrappy and this spoils the ensemble. a shame as there's some good playing going on.

Star player. Flugel - didn't overblow and had good sound.

11. Becontree Brass, William Rumford
Scherzo. Safe in dynamics and style. Good sounds though. It's all there if slightly under tempo.

Nocturne. dynamics are upand there is a lack of musical shape. Lovely tone to solo cornet who performs well. 19 onwards is safety first. All one level stuff and the tuning goes before the end.

Plymouth Town. All decent stuff but lacks excitement and sounds a bit bland. Builds well to a good finish but needs more variation.

Star Player. Solo cornet - fine sound and safe.

12. Raunds Temperance, John fletcher
Scherzo. Well handled up tempo start and moves nicely. it has style even if it's all one level stuff. Ends well.

Nocturne. A bit bland perhaps but everything goes in. nice solo lines enhance the music. It's flowing now. 19 onwards goes a bit athritic but its ok stuff. Tuning goes towards close.

Plymouth town. Sensible tempo but becomes a bit staid. Improves steadily to end which is a little untidy. A decent show

Star player. basses - pretty good stuff...

13. Lancashire Life Morcambe, Andrew Warriner
Scherzo. A little muddy but goes along nicely. gets enthusistic on the dynamic front - good flugel and solo cornet.

Nocturne. Very nice group of soloists. This sounds very good when thre dynamics are kept down. 19 onwards has many good moments and ends nicely.

Plymouth Town. More good stuff . It's all a bit ocerblown for us though this is a quality outfit. Should do very well. Let's hope the 'big' sound approach doesn't get them!

Star player. All the soloists who were very good.

14. Bream Silver, Nigel Howard
Scherzo. Lively start and starts to rush. Good recovery though, but laspses again and becomes disjointed and untidy

Nocturne. Sounds nervya nd the tuning suffers. The dynamics are all attempted but they do suffer for it. Good try. 19 onwards... They continue bravely but it's taking its toll. Well done though for trying. Fine flugel.

Plymouth Town. Nice start but it's all a bit of a struggle. The numerous blips and blops detract. It recovers well to end nicely. A brave performance that was so close to being a very good show.

Star player. Tambourine player - excellent throughout.

15. Cwmbran, John Burns
Scherzo. A little unclear to start with heavy articulation. not really scherzando like. Tuning suffers.

Nocturne. Good attempts from soloists but the music lacks flow. Slightly nervy   but a recovery is made. 19 onwards has nice moments.

Plymouth Town. Good start but why so accented? The music lacks shape and style as a result. Will the hard attack cost them?

Star player. Basses - kept going well.

16. Cantium Brass, John Gould
Scherzo. A bit lumpy. The dynamics are a bit on the loud side but we see why. Quiet stuff suffers. It's all a bit heavy and the ending is out of tune.

Nocturne. Solid and confident stuff and solo lines could be quieter. It begins to lack flow. 19 onwards is in the same vein. Safe and solid.

Plymouth Town. Laks bite and style. The safety stops the dance and excitement. It's error free stuff. No its not.... The blips lead to a fair old finish.

Star Player. Sop - well played son!

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