British Open Brass Band Championship
84th Spring Festival ~ Grand Shield
Blackpool Winter Gardens
8th May 2004
Symphonic Poem No.3 ~ Les Preludes
Franz Liszt (1848) Arranged for Brass band by Bram Gay
Conducted by Ian McElligott
Adjudicator:
Roy Newsome
Andante. A fairly promising introduction despite moments of insecurity & slight intonation problems in basses. Crescendo not quite measured.
'A' (Andante Maestoso) Ponderous tempo & semi's seem to be laboured.
L'istesso tempo 9/8 section. Muted semi's nowhere near mf, causing serious balance problems. Why change tempo at bar 67? Seems to lose it's way a bit here.
Rather better for 'D', but trills not too comfortable.
Nice work Solo Cornet & Solo Horn, and good close.
Allegro ma non troppo. Good work in basses. 'E'. Effective.
Allegro tempetoso. Again ponderous at first, & some most odd tempo changes from 'F'. Good from bar 160.
Un poco piu moderato. Nicely done Soprano.
'H'. Only poco rall please.
Allegretto pastoral. This has a nice feel - a very good section. Well restrained from 260. Going nicely but the rall before 'L' disrupts it's progress.
Rather aggressive from 'M' & closing bars were really messy.
Allegro Marziale. A bit quick but good playing. Again the tempo change at 'O' made no sense & certainly took away any sense of 'brilliante'
Andante Maestoso. A real maestoso and some very good band sounds.
There was much good playing in this perfomance but at times it became indulgent and the music was not allowed to deliver it's various messages.
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Adjudicator:James Scott
A secure opening - though some unease in cornet section from bar 19.
Good build to 'A', though from 'A' it is rather pedantic.
Nicely shaped from the 9/8 - though the marking was rather overdone at 'C'
L'istesso tempo was not played as such at 67! Final bars of the section secure if rather loud for pp.
Your build was successful from 'E' (crescendo e stringendo)
The license taken from 'F' did not help the musical shape I'm afraid.
The Allegretto pastoral became your best playing - with delicacy and poise. You manage to conjure the spirit of the music here.
The lead into the Allegro Marziale became untidy, but from the Marziale there are good sounds and much conviction - if a little eccentric shaping in places.
Your final Andante maestoso was very good, with a well balanced and well controlled sound.
Many good moments in this performance - but with some reservations.
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RESULTS:
1 SELLERS INTERNATIONAL - P. McCANN
2 ROTHWELL TEMPERANCE - D. ROBERTS
3 DESFORD COLLIERY - Major P. PARKES
4 KIBWORTH - J. BERRYMAN
5 TRAVELSPHERE HOLIDAYS - D. STOWELL
6 HEPWORTH - M. BENTHAM
7 J.A.G. MOUNT CHARLES - B. HURDLEY
8 INNOVATE SKELMANTHORPE - K. WADSWORTH
9 FLOWERS - P. HARPER
10 FISHBURN - MAJOR IAN McELLIGOTT
11 BEAUMARIS - G. EVANS
12 JAGUAR (COVENTRY) - D. LEA
13 LEYLAND - G. CUTT
14 BESSES O`TH BARN - S. SYKES
15 AVELEY & NEWHAM - N. TAKEN
16 REDBRIDGE - M. WHITE
17 GLOSSOP OLD - J. CANT
18 EAST YORKSHIRE MOTOR SERVICES - G. PRITCHARD
19 STOCKBRIDGE - D. RENSHAW
20 NEWSTEAD WELFARE - D. BECKLEY
21 LINDLEY - N. JOWETT
22 UNITED CO-OPERATIVES YORKSHIRE BRASS - J. ROBERTS
