St Kilda Band Wins National Title

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31677, 13 May 1968, Page 22

St Kilda Band Wins National Title

St Kilda Municipal Band, of Dunedin, won the New Zealand Brass Bands Association A grade championship at Cashmere High School on Saturday evening, when the second test was played by seven bands before more than 1500 people.

St Kilda won by two points from Onslow Brass, and Roslyn Mills - Kaikorai was third. After the first test, St Kilda was in fourth place but it won the second test by five points, to gain the championship by two points.

The B grade section was won by the Lower Hutt Civic Band. The Skellerup Woolston Auxiliary Band (Christchurch) was second and the Wellington Metro Fire Brigade third. The City of Papatoetoe Municipal Band won the C grade title and the Motueka Municipal Band won the D grade. The judge of the A grade (Mr K. G. Smith, of Melbourne, formerly of St Kilda), said that the set piece, Berlioz’s “Le Camaval Romain" was difficult to play, and he sympathised with the problems of technique. Most bands were to be complimented on handling the difficult parts, he said.

The slow movement in the arrangement had to have as much rhythm as the fast section to make the whole piece move and to give it more freedom, he said. However, except for one band, there were few times when the sounds Berlioz wanted were achieved. Mood Required

In the B grade second test, the set music was the Second Rhapsody on Negro Spirituals by Eric Ball. Mr Smith said that the music dealt with the life of a people and that he had to find a band which captured the spirit and depth of the Negro feeling. Only the winning band achieved this. Mr Smith said he expected a higher level of playing in the C grade. The piece chosen was not difficult and it was possibly taken too easily. The bands were closely matched and their quality was even. The judge of the D grade test and own choice sections

(Mr J. Rafferty) said the test selection, “Oasis Suite” by Eric BaR, was quite difficult for D grade bands. The first and second placed bands, Motueka Municipal Band and Masterton Municipal, gave outstanding performances. In the D grade own choice section, the playing was exceptionally good, he said. The placed bands gave performances worthy of C grade standard. Many bands spoiled their performance by poor phrasing and bad tuning, especially in the higher instruments, said the judge of the hymn section (Mr C. C. Miller). Fine Playing Roslyn Mills Kaikorai Band won the A grade quickstep competition before an appreciative crowd at the Addington Showgrounds on Sunday. Fine playing was heard and the winning band scored 95 music points out of a possible 100.

For its marching the winner scored 266, giving 361 points in all. The runner-up in the A grade, the Skellerup Woolston Band, scored 358.2 points (94 music and 264.2 military). The Timaru Municipal Band, with 346.1 points (87 music and 259.1 military) was third. The B grade quickstep was won by the Invercargill Garrison Band and the Ashburton Silver Band won the C grade. The Masterton Municipal Band was the only D grade quickstep contestant to score more than 300 points. The New Brighton Silver Band (289.7) was second. Results were.— A GRADE Second Test (“Le Carnaval Romain’’).—St Kilda Municipal 141 points, 1; Onslow Brass, 136, 2; Skellerup Woolston, 135. 3; Roslyn Mills Kaikorai, 133. 4; Derry’s Brass, 131, 5; Palmerston North City Silver, 129, 6: Timaru Municipal, 127, 7. Championship Aggregate.—St Kilda Municipal, 275, 1; Onslow Brass. 273, 2; Roslyn Mills Kaikorai. 271, 3; Derry’s Brass, 266. 4; Skellerup Woolston, 263, 5: Palmerston North City Silver. 262, 6: Timaru Municipal, 259, 7.

■ GRADE Second Test (2nd Rhapsody on Negro Spirituals—Ball) Lower Hutt Civic, 139, 1; Skellerup Woolston Auxiliary, 134, 2; Addington Brass, 131, 3; Invercargill Garrison, 130. 4; Mt Roskill Municipal and Wellington Metro. Fire Brigade, 129 (equal) 3; Hawera Municipal, 127, 7;

Christchurch Fire Brigade and Blenheim Municipal, 126 (equal) 8; Te Awamutu Municipal, 125, 10; Hamilton Citizens and Lower Hutt Municipal, 120 (equal) 11. Championship aggregate Lower Hutt Civic, 279, 1; Skellerup Woolston Auxiliary, 265, 2; Wellington Metro Fire Brigade, 263 3; Mt Roskill Municipal, 262, 4: ’Hawera Municipal, 257, 5; Addington Brass, 255, 6; Christchurch Fire Brigade, 252, 7; Invercargill Garrison, 251, 8; Hamilton Citizens, 250, 9; Te Awamutu Municipal, and Blenheim Municipal, 249 (equal) 10; Lower Hutt Municipal. 248, 12. C GRADE Second Test (’’Spring Song”— Lucas) Takapuna City Silver, 123, 1; Upper Hutt Municipal, 121, 2; Oamaru Municipal, 120, 3; City of Papatoetoe Municipal, 119, 4; Dunedin City Silver. 117, 5; Ashburton, 110. 6: City of Rotorua Municipal, 108, 7. Championship Aggregates.— City of Papatoetoe Municipal, 242, 1; Upper Hutt Municipal and Takapuna City Silver, 238 (equal) 2; Oamaru Municipal and Dunedin City Silver, 237 (equal) 4; City of Rotorua Municipal, 218. 6; Ashburton Silver, 216. 7. D GRADE Hymn.—Masterton Municipal, 85, 1; Motueka Municipal, 84, 2; New Brighton Silver, 83, 3; Waimate Silver Band, 82, 4; Port Chalmers Marine and Rangiora Brass, 79 (equal) 5. Test (“Oasis Suite”)—Motueka Municipal, 126, 1; Masterton Municipal, 125. 2; Rangiora Brass, 119, 3; Port Chalmers Marine, 118, 4; New Brighton Silver, 115, 5; Waimate Silver Band, 114, 6. Own choice.—Port Chalmers Marine, 130, 1; Motueka Municipal, 128, 2; Masterton Municipal, 126, 3; Waimate Silver Band, 124, 4; New Brighton Silver, 123, 5; Rangiora Brass, 121, 6. Championship Aggregates.— Motueka Municipal, 254, 1; Masterton Municipal, 251, 2; Port Chalmers Marine, 248, 3; Rangiora Brass, 240, 4; Waimate Silver Band, 238, 5; New Brighton Silver, 237, 6.

QUICKSTEP Full results of the quickstep competitons were.— A grade: Roslyn Mills Kaikorai, 95 music points, 266 military points, 361 total points, 1; Skellerup Woolston, 94', 264.2, 358.2, 2; Timaru Municipal. 87, 259.1, 346.1. 3; St Kilda Municipal, 93, 252.3 , 345.3, 4; Derry’s Brass, 91, 253.9, 344.9, 5; Onslow Brass, 89, 250.6, 339.6, 6; Palmerston North City Silver, 87, 240.3, 327.3, 7.

B Grade: Invercargill Garrison, 89 , 259.3, 348.3, 1; Te Awamutu Municipal, 87, 250.5, 337.5, 2: Blenheim Municipal. 85. 251.8, 336.8, 3; Addington Brass, 87, 248.1, 335.1, 4; Hawera Municipal, 86. 244.5, 530.5, 5; Christchurch Fire Brigade 86, 240.1, 326.1, 6; Lower Hutt Municipal, 85, 239.9, 324.9, 7; Hamilton Citizens, 83. 241.5, 324.5, 8; Skellerup Woolston Auxiliary, 84, 239.8, 323.8, 9; Lower Hutt Civic, 84, 237.7, 321.7, 10; Mount Roskill Municipal, 86, 234. 320, 11; Wellington Metropolitan Fire Brigade, 88, 230.3, 318.3, 12. C Grade: Ashburton Silver, 76, 248.8, 324.8, 1; Takapuna City Silver, 80, 231.2, 311.2, 2; Upper Hutt Municipal, 76, 233.2, 309.2, 3; City of Rotorua Municipal, 75, 230.5, 305.5, 4; Oamaru Municipal. 77, 222.3, 299.3, and City of Papatoetoe Municipal, 73, 226.3, 299.3, (equal) 5; Dunedin City Silver, 75, 224.2, 299.2, 6.

D Grade: Masterton Municipal, 69. 237,7, 306.7, 1; Motueka Municipal, 68, 227.5, 295.5, 2; Waimate Silver Band, 68, 227.1, 295.1, 3; New Brighton Silver, 66, 223.7, 289.7, 4; Rangiora Brass, 67, 213.5, 280.5, 5; Port Chalmers Marine, 70, 207.4, 277.4,