With the long awaited return to major contesting for the brass band movement coming at Cheltenham in just a week's time, bands will have been busy working on the test pieces that will be performed in the various sections of the National Finals.

And for the bands competing in the First Section, that has meant getting to grips with an iconic composition — Edward Gregson's 'Connotations' — originally commissioned for the 1977 Championship Section National Finals at the Royal Albert Hall.

We managed to catch up with the composer to talk about the work — its inspiration and structure as well as its special very patient dedicatee.