OUR BANDSMEN.

vIOCALNEWS AND FOREIGN NOTES; .;' (By TROMBONE.}' .." ■ Tho band of tho Canteiimty Expeditionary Force received £43 18s 6d as the result of the concert held in the Opera House on September VI and the jale of tho " Contingent March, ' a song composed by Mrs H.. Lough«au, Forty pounds of this money■. was expended in the purchase of instruments and tho balnnco was handed to the bandmastor for the purposes of the band. Gifts of music were. mads.to tho troops' band by most of the local bands and the Lyttelton Marines (Coast Defence Band). The Expeditionary Force is exceedingly fortunate in possessing such a good musical cornbjpation to cheer the men on their Gray to the war area. • ■ Bandmaster-Sergeant Osborne, 'under whose tuition tho Canterbury Expeditionary Band niado such wonderful pio- ;. gress'was this week presented by Ins comrades with a silver-mounted bato. v , which he Bi«nt on to Timaru (his honje) as a present for his mother. ■The following.is the completed p<NVonnel of the Canterbury Expeditionary Force Band; which is under the control of Sergeant W. H. Osborne, late solo cornetist of the'2nd Regiment Band, Timaru:—Sergeant W. H. Osborne (band sergeant); Sergeant A. J. Bennington,. Corporal J. C. Sullivan, Lonce-Corporal Bugler G. H. Harlowc, Lance-Corporal' T. Kelly.. Bugler G. Williams, Bugler D. S. L. Keay, Bugler 11. H. Smith, Bugler C. Stoue, Bugler "S. Richards, and Privates H. A. Plnlnott. H. Christensen, A. E. C'odyne, C>; Cole, K. O. Bird, J. Manstead, H. Rush, T. M'Kain, J. Hazeldine, J. Gills. Minola, J. Macdonald, C Neileon, F. Cusack and T. Hawkley. Tne liien hail from all parts of the South Tsland and several are well-known and clever instrumentalists. The bandipaster (Sorgean,t Osborne) is a champion cornetist of the Dominion; Williams is one of • WoolsWs . capable trombone trio;. Bennington is from Geraldine, Avhere he had been a leading spirit in band matters cf that town; Sullivan hails from Waimate; Harlowe came from Oamaru; Kelly is from the West Coast and was formerly a,member of the Kaikorai Band; Keay left the ranks of the Salvation Army Band at Timaru to join! the contingent band; Stone is from Nelson: Richards is well-known to the West Coast and Kaiapoi bandsmen; Philpott and Chnstensen are from the Ashburton Temperance—and the last-mentioned is a capital baritone and euphonium soloist; C.- Cole has been connected with the Lyttelton Marine Band for many years, though lately not an active member —his brother, P. Cole, soprano plaj'er in the Wellington City Band and also an ex-member of the Lyttelton Marine, went to Samoa with tho band of the first Expeditionary Force; Bird came from the Richmond Band, Nelson; Smith hails from Westport; Hazeldine is also from the Coast district, as is Gills, who was a member of the Westport Federal Band; M'Donald belongs to the Ist Regiment Band, Christchurch. Let us hope that our brave Dominion bandsmen will excel themselves in the serious work that tHey are undertaking and that all will return to New Zealand safely. Band contest work has fitted most of the bandsmen to tackle a task determinedly and to enable them to control themselves well, and there is no doubt that experience will serve them well in the field of operations. v-When the Canterbury. Expeditionary Fjprce left in the troopships there was aT-great gathering of friends of the departing troops and of the general public. The band of the Coast Defence Forces. (Lyttelton Marines) assembled in strong force and farewelled the troops with stirring patriotic airs. When "The Marseillaise" was played the troops cheered again and again. Mr Raymond Hope's stirring ballad 'i' Sons of New Zealand" was also played by the band, and the troops ■,-jpined in the chorus. The" effect was remarkable. It was all a unique experience. As each vessel left the wharf the farewell strains were "Rule Britannia," "Auld Lang Syne" and "God Save the King." Lyttelton will long remember the departure of the troops. ''»-'■. Last Sunday the Lyttelton Marine Band paid a visit to Fort Jervois and played a programme of music for the entertainment of the troops who are doing duty there. The men have been at tho fort for several weeks and they keenly appreciated a little musical recreation. Lieutenant J. Ord-Hume, the renowned British band expert, who left Scotland recently to take up his residence in London, has established _ his home at Laleham-on-Thames. It is a delightful locality and Mr Hume is very happy in his new beautiful surroundings/ Doubtless the scenic beauties ,of Laleham-on-Thames will inspire the gifted lieutenant to compose many fresh musical beauties for the entertainment of bandsmen and the public of the British Empire.

following bands were accepted a'.v the great September contest at Belle- Vue:—Black Dike, Wingates, Hilda Colliery, Foden's Motor Works, Shaw, Hebden Bridge, Luton Bed Cross, Goodshaw, King Cross, Halifax, Crosfield's, Irwell Snrings, Dannemora .Steel Works, Bailey 'Old, Nelson Old, Pendleton Public, Mansfield Colliery, Altrinoham Borough, Lindley, Lintli..waite, Haworth Public. The contest, the sixty-second of the annual series, was to be held on September 7. The selection, arranged, as usual, by Lieutenant Charles Godfrey, was an arrangement from Mehul's opera, '/: Joseph and His Brethren." The opera was produced for the first time in England on February 3 of this year, at Covent Garden Theatre. It was produced first in Paris on February 17, 1807, over a century ago. Mehul was born in 1763 and died during 1817. v 4 short time ago we were much surprised' to hear a passage played minus an essential part, and the more surprised because the band wae one of Borne repute (remarks the "Brass Band News.") We could see that one ot the trombones was absent, but we know that'the part was "cued" m for the second baritone. But he did not play it though that was the very, occasion for which it had been printed m small notes for him and marked second' trombone. He must have known the second trombone was absent, and thougu the bandmaster might have overlooked the fact that the baritone had the part "cued"' in, that did not absolve the player. Bandsmen do not lack inteiSgence, but they often seem to lack "initiative. The player referred to knew ho had' the part, but left it alone because no one had told him to play it. These "cued" parts are done for 6uch emergencies, and every player should exercise his intelligence as to when he should play them and when not to play them. The. arranger has for effect written a section/for. cornets' and trombones alone, we'll euppose, dome parts have passages "written in small notes. The arranger prefers tt>rnete and trombones for reasons of tone .colour, but as bands may be shorthanded, he writes certain essential parts in small notes, to be played when the instrument to which the part is allotted may be absent. Better a substitute than that the part he left out. Similarly, he may write for flugels and fcorna, etc., and "cue" in some essential parts into the cornets and trombones. Generally players will not touch those if the bandmaster does not •.request them to do so. But if ho overlooks it—and has not al] the parts

beforo him—than should the player display intelligence and initiative* by doing tho thing which is needful.