BRILLIANT SCENE

Evening Star, Issue 21347, 27 February 1933, Page 6

BRILLIANT SCENE

BANDS’ QUICKSTEP DAY CAPACITY ATTENDANCE AT CARISBROOK WINS FOR INVERCARGILL AND NAPIER FINALE AT TOWN HALL There were times on Saturday morning AA-hen it seemed that the quickstep competition for the A and B grade bands would be seriously interfered Avith in so far as the Aveather was concerned. Overnight rain had fallen, and there Avere early morning shoAA-ers, Fortunately the elements vrere not in unfavourabl mood, and by midday the sky Avas clear, the streets had dried and the conditions were practically perfect for tho final day’s proceedings of the _ band contest. The scene at the Carisbrook Ground Avas brilliant, and Avill go on record as one of the finest gatherings ever assembled there. It is estimated that there must have been an attendance of 20,000. The beautiful summer afternoon, the allure of the bands, with their sparkling instruments, attractive music, and- picturesque appearance, proved a magnet which few could resist. The fair sex graced the festival in large numbers, and added a colour effect in their pretty dressing, Avhich was most delightful to the eye and completed a picture of beauty and rare charm. There Avas, too, a large number of lovely, healthy children, avlioso happy faces and merry chatter indicated that they were experiencing something in the way of a spectacular event that would never be effaced from their memories. One can almost realise a day in the future Avhen tAvo children of Saturday' Avill meet, as their elders did during band contest week, which closed on Saturday night, and in the joy of recollection exclaim: “Do you remember the bands’ quickstep contest on the Carisbrook Ground in February of 1933? What a day! What a glorious occasion and display!” This epitomises that which might be extended in Avords of praise and in pen pictures of describing a wonderful scene, but which may be passed by, for the living picture will remain impressed on the minds of the teeming thousands who witnessed it in all its glory on Saturday. As a prelude to the serious part of the competition at the Carisbrook, the tAventy bands that took part m the quickstep assembled at the Queen’s Gardens at midday', and marched off at intervals, playing stirring and pretty quickstep music. It was all very spectacular, and aroused considerable enthusiasm as the Pied Pipers of our brass bands sang sweetly and alluringly, and' dreAV old and young alike with them to the domain whence happiness and joy prevailed for several sunny hours.

Many spectacular exhibitions were given during th© afternoon, but the most striking was undoubtedly that dr th© finale, when all bands took up positions in front of the stand, and wero quickly surrounded by the dense and enthusiastic crowd, which could be held behind the oval fence no longer. The result was announced, then they listened with wonder and rapture as the judge (Mr Frank Weight) conducted the massed A grade bands in their test march. It was all' entrancing, colourful, and magnetically impressive. Th© climax was reached, however, when over 500 bandsmen played the National Anthem, and the huge attendance stood respectfully and silently as_ a mark of love and respect for King George, the devoted head of our British race. It was the culminating point of a wonderful day and a wonderful occasion. As to the actual quickstep competition—there were separate events for A and B grade—it can be said without fear of contradiction that the dominion has never been favoured with a better display of marching, drill evolution, and quickstep music. The standard was very high in both grades, and the vast concourse expressed its pleasure in enthusiastic approbative outbursts as the men moved with a unanimity of action and splendidly-dressed lines, and performed the various turns and wheel like a piece of perfect machinery. To have accomplished all this in such a high degree of proficiency meant, of course, a tremendous amount of preparation and reflected the utmost credit on those responsible for the final effort, which entertained one and all so very convincingly, happily, and joyously. And the military., judges must have been impressed beyond anticipations. The magnificent drill of the Invercargill Civic Band was rewarded with 183 points out of a possible 200, while St. Kilda was but 1J marks behind. These two bands are old rivals, and each has scored many quickstep successes, the southern band in the days when it was known as the Invercargill Hibernian. Port Nicholson and Timaru Municipal wero also seen in splendid military work, for each was in the 170 section of points, marking a high standard of efficiency. The B grade bands, thirteen in number, were but little behind the A grade in merit. The winner, Napier City, gave a superb display in both marching and playing, their points allotted being 173} for drill and 84} for music, second by three-quarters of a point in the military section to Mosgiel, which put up a remarkable performance of drill evolution, but unfortunately fell away iu music. The splendid showing of Napier City and the fact that it had come so far made a great appeal, and applause punctuated the performance throughout. It was a great and convincing effort. Hastings Citizens’ Military was assessed so highly by the judges as to be placed practically on a par with Mosgiel and Napier, The band, strange to say, mad© a false start, from no fault of its own; but the incident must have had an unsettling effect on the men when they were finally dispatched on their prize-winning quest. This was reflected in the musical points. As the adjudicator (Mr Frank Wright) would not know the circumstances he would probably have penalised Hastings. The marks given by him rather suggested this, if it was not so in actual fact. From a picture point of view nothing could have given greater pleasure to the concourse of delighted onlookers than the appearance of the Dunedin Artillery Band. They marched superbly, physique was very regular, and. the uniform was most attractive.

The final session of Contest Week took place at the Town Hall at night, before a crowded attendance. The •special attraction was the own choice selection playing by eight mixed A and B grade. Several of the bigger works known to brass bands were heard, and the interpretation of these was of the same high, standard as was experienced in the championship section. Port Nicholson gave a magnificent rendering of 1 Rossini’s .Works a remarkable ar-

rangement by the late Alec. Owen, conductor of the famous Besses o’ the Barn Baud for many years, and deservedly gained the first prize. Woolston Band, for a very fine performance of ‘ L’Etoile du Nord,’ one of the test numbers of last year’s contest, was second. Greymouth Civic gained' third place for a splendid rendering of Wagner excerpts, and St. Kilda (‘ Oheron ’) and Invercargill Civic (‘ Weber’s Works ’) were only fractional points awayFollowing this the prizes were presented by Mr J. H. Walker (president of the Dunedin Band Contest Executive, with the exception of the Shardlow Memorial Shield and the Ira Goughian Memorial Medal, which were handed to the fortunate winners respectively by Mrs B. I. Shardlow (Wellington) and Mrs W. P. Coughlan (Dunedin). These presentations were made amid enthusiasm, leavened with the sorrowful thoughts of the bandsmen, as memories of those whose good work in the band contesting arena they perpetuated were realised. The champion shields were handed over to the A and B grade bands’ representatives with cheers, and all other prize-winners were heartily applauded on rceiving the trophy rewards of their gallant contest efforts. It would be ungenerous to pass from this great Contest Week without making reference to the splendid work done by all the officers. Where one and all worked so enthusiastically and faithfully to ensure the success attained, it would be invidious to single out individuals, but all the officials may rest assured that they earned the gratitude of every band that took part in the great and successful week’s proceedings. JUDGE'S REMARKS Commenting on the performances, the judge (Mr Frank Wright) said that it had been a most interesting section. He was not a great believer in our choice selections as tests, though there was a lot to commend them from the public’s point of view. But works such as John Ireland’s ‘ Dowland Suite ’ and Rimmer’s ‘ Berlioz ’ brought forth the best of brass band playing, and no one could say a word against the beauty of such compositions. The playing in the own choice was of a fairly high, standard. Some bands played selections much beyond their combinations, whilst another played on that was much too easy. It was difficult, therefore, to know what to do. Provided the music was played equally well his task was not so bad, but through faulty intonation and bad reading bands must suffer, _ and so a band playing an easier selection had an advantage over the others. QUICKSTEP COMPETITION The quickstep competition was commenced with the B grade section, thirteen taking part. The event was judged l under the usual conditions, and was in all respects a searching test in the military department, the drill headings (including time, paces, and cleanliness of numbering seventeen, with these divided into sections in several instances. The paces and time column were the most important, as the maximum marks under each of these was _ twenty-five, while in another (dressing, interval, and steadiness) fifteen was the limit. Thirteen of the remaining sections carried a maximum of ten and one of five. The .bands, were first drawn up for inspection in general appearance, and were allotted points np to ten as a maximum. The dressing, interval, and steadiness also counted here. The bands were then marched to what is known as point A, whence the order was given to commence the playing portion of the competition. The initial test was over the first hundred yards, which, to obtain the maximum, a band had to cover the distance in one minute and 120 paces. No fewer than four of the contestants marched the distance in the exact number of paces. They were Green Island, Mosgiel, Greymouth, and Christchurch Municipal. _ No band secured the maximum for time, the. best performance being by Mosgiel,- which nearly achieved the possible, its marks being 24}. Several of _ the bauds crashed rather badly in this time test. It should here be mentioned that bands were penalised half a point for every one-fifth of a second over or under the required sixty seconds. Matr.ura secured only 10} points, Green Island 11, and Nelson Garrison 11}. Such low figures have not been registered at any previous contest.. The remainder of the march ordeal included two countermarches, a left and right turn, and right wheel the while the band playing and being judged by. the critical eye of the military officials. Napier City Band scored the maximum for the second counter-march. The first countermarch was the more trying for the contestants judging from the points allotted, nine being highest. The left and right turns were splendidly done by most bands, with marked unanimity of action, and the judges’ points were high- The right wheel was evidently not quite so good, as only one band gained as high as nine marks. When the full military points were made up it was found that Mosgiel had done best, with 174 J marks, while Napier was 1} points only behind, and Hastings another quarter point off. This is an indication of the standard of work and the task that confronted the judges. Napier head the music department with 84} points, Westport 83, Ashburton 81, Christchurch Municipal 80}, and Nelson Garrison 80 being next'in order. There were seven bands in the A grade quickstep. The standard was higher generally in the military section, though no band in the section g’ained maximum marks for either time or paces. Several, however, registered one short of the full marks—lnvercargill, Kaikorai, St. Kilda, and Timaru for paces, and Woolston, Invercargill, and Timaru for time.. Invercargill’s and St. Hilda’s drill sections all showed points reaching just over 90 per cent, of the maximum. St. Kilda showed a slightly higher drill result, but lost on the time column, scaring only 20} marks to Invercargill’s 24. However, the military performances were practically similar. Port Nicholson and Timaru also gained high marks, 174 and 171|. These are excellent figures, but were well behind the 183 and 181 f respectively of Invercargil and St. Kilda. The A grade bands excelled under the paces column, the figures for the bands reading, in order of play—23, 24, 23, 24, 24, 23, 24. Timaru headed the musical section with 82} points, Woolston being next with 81} and Port Nicholson 80. St. Hilda's fine drill total was discounted by its points for music, 74}. _ Invercargill gained 79, which enabled it to head the A _ grade quickstep band by several points.

B GRADE QUICKSTEP. (‘Mandora,’ W. S. Ord Hume.)] Judge: Mr Frank Wright.

THE CHAMPIONSHIPS Following are the positions of th< bands in the championship for A and B grades, the points being those obn tained for the music in the two tesfi selections and in the quickstep compete tion:—

B GRADE.

DISTRIBUTION OF TROPHIES To avoid' as much delay as possible, at the conclusion of the performances the distribution of the various trophies was proceeded witli whilst the judge completed his comments. The chairman of the Dunedin Band Contest Executive (Mr J. If. Walker), introducing two donors of trophies, thanked the public for its patronage throughout the festival. Providence had been kind to them so far as weather was concerned, with the result that at the gate that afternoon, slightly over £I,OOO mul been taken. He also desired to thank ilie visiting, bandsmen for their assistance, which had made the committee’s task in. trying to do its best for them much easier than it would otherwise have been. -The bandsmen’s conduct had been most exemplary. He would specially like to thank the Nelson and Napier Bands, which had to do so much travelling to tie represented at the contest, which, he thought he was right in saying, was the best the Dunedin public had ever bad the opportunity of supporting. The committee had worked night and day to bring the contest to a successful issue, and lie hoped that visitors would leave Dunedin with an appreciation of its efforts. Mrs B. I. Shardlow (Wellington), who donated a challenge shield in memory of her husband (Captain Shardlow) to the B grade band winning the quickstep, was called upon to hand over this trophy to the Napier City Band representative. Mrs W. P. Goughian pinned the Ira Goughian Memorial Medal on the tunic of J. R. Marshall (tenor trombonist of the Port Nicholson Silver Band), who scored the highest sblo points (92) at the contest. Mrs Congnlan’s kissing the winner of the medal was an act which worked on the feelings of the bandsmen present, who sent up a wildly cnfhusiastic cheer. Mr Goughian shook hands with the recipient Conductor IL.J. Estall accented the Thacker A Grade Championship Shield, won by Woolston for securing the highest: aggregate music I'OMits at tl"' festival, 'the Budd* Wills Memorial Challenge

Shield and the committc’s gold medals were presented to Mr George Christie, B flat cornetist, for winning the championship and also the own choice. Mr H. R. Mollcr’s special cup, won outright by Port Nicholson in the hymn test, was received by Conductor J. J. Drew, who also took the Al'Leod Cup i for the same competition, i’or winning the tenor horn solo Mr G. Taylor (Westport Municipal) was the recipient of the W. I*’. Gordon (New Plymouth special gold medal in addition to the committee’s own gold medal. Drum-majors H. R. Hciford (Napier City) and F. J. Logan (Invercargill Civic) received gold medals for training the bands winning the respective quicksteps. Gold medals were distributed amongst all other solo winners not already mentioned and members, of the winning trombone trio (Port Nicholson), the quartet (Westport Municipal), the champion A grade hand (Woolston), and the quickstep winners (Invercargill Civis). Silver medals wont to all players, individual and otherwise, who gained .second place in the various competitions, to the Napier City bandsmen for winning the B grade quickstep, and to members of the Westport Muni eipal Band -for winning the B grade test. OTHER PRESENTATIONS Later in the evening special presentations were also made to the judge (Sir Frank Wright) and Mr J. H. Walker. Both presentations were works of art, modelled in greenstone. The judge’s was donated by Mr Walker, the other by bandsmen of the dominion. Prior to making these presentations Mr Jl. 1). Bennett (president of the New Zealand Brass Bands’ Association) steppeil forward to say that the association greatly appreciated what Dunedin has done to promote the interests of brass hands and hand music. (s evidenced in the .success of the contest, just completed, tho association had been wise to rely on Dunedin to come to flic rescue-this year, adieu Christchurch, through circumstances neyond | its coniiol. had been unable to hold I he contest in its turn., At live months’

i notice Dunedin willingly took up the , work, and the result hud shown that . from both the musical and financial • sides the contest had been tho must ■ successful they had ever had. Despite i depression, they had had the unique experience of holding a better contest i than they had over done in prosperous times. - On behalf of tho hands he thanked the citizens and tho mayor and • mayoress for their hospitality and generosity; also Air Walker and the various oflieiais on tho committee rho had worked so industriously to make the contest a success. He referred to the yeoman service rendered by the superintendent (Mr J. I). limiter), the supervisor (Mr G. A. Wycherley), and the secretary (Air K. S. Wilson)., Being a stranger to the city, lie did not know ■personally many men or women, hut on behalf of the whole organisation of New Zealand ho wished to sincerely thank all citizens, for whom he called throe cheers from visiting bandsmen In making the presentation to Mr Walker, Air Bennett said that the present might ho insignificant in itself, but it carried with it a tremendous amount of sincerity. It was contributed to almost by pence, nor in gold nor in silver, because they wanted tlie interest to be diversified ; and not one, two, or, three, not a score of men, but hundreds contributed toward the gilt of appreciation of his twenty-two years of service to the band movement of New Zealand. Replying, Air Walker said iie would ever treasure the memento o! tho many happy days ho had spent with the hands. He had always found an immense amount of pleasure in working for tho bands, which wore at all limes courteous to him. No one knew wnafc was really owed to a hand. A city without, a hand could he nothing, and to think that bandsmen were principally working men, who were ever ready to assist their hands’ funds, made one all the more pleased to extend some support to them. Congratulating Mr \\ nlkcr on (he thought of giving such a. fine, gift to the 'judge, Mr Bennett asked Air Wright to accept tho presentation as | a token of remembrance and appreciation of his work during his visit to Dunedin. |

i. nave come a mug way xo no your adjudicator at this contest,, hut I will leave New Zealand with happy recollections of my visit,” said Air Wright, in reply. “Tho contest committee has been most. courteous to me, motoring mo everywhere, and 1 do not know howto thank it. I also And it difficult to express my thanks to Air Walker for this beautiful gift, which 1 will treasure ns long as 1 live. I hope my work as adjudicator has been appreciated. Aly decisions have been perfectly honest, though I may have been a little outspoken at times, particularly in regard to the work of B grade hands; hut it lias been my one aim to try to lift them up, and point out whore they wore wrong. I could not have done this with eulogies. Whatever 1 have said or done has been in the interests of the hands to make them a littlo better.’' Visitors entertained Bandmasters, judges, and oilier visitors were entertained at a most enjoyable fnnotion in the supper room at the close of tiio festival. Air J. H. Walker (chairman) proposed the toast to “ Tho New Zealand Brass Bands’ Association,” stating that throughout tho whole of the contest the committee was greatly indebted to Air ■). G. Osborne, tho association secretary, for the vast amount of work Jig had undertaken. He was pleased to have learned that the association had ' again elected Air Bennett as its presi- ( (lent for another year. Without wish- ' ing to rollout on the ability of other members of the association, ho was ol the opinion that they could not find a better man for the position of president than Air Bennett. Ho congratn- . lated the association on flic line work | it was, doing, and hoped it would eon- i timio to do this. He felt sure tho , local committee would do its best to ho ■ of assistance at any time. I “ One of the principles of the asso- ; elation is to promote band music in ' New Zealand, not for any desire of I gain, hut in the interess of human lei- ; lowslnp,” said Mr Bennett in his reply. “ It is our desire to .assist in its I

(jiwiiiuuiuii .mu ueveiupmeiir, jo uo It properly w.o must get the interest of people whilst they arc young, for wo build for the future, and so long as we have the support—moral and otherwise —of every community, such as that given by Dunedin, wo shall‘not fail to achieve our purpose. Much work lias keen done to bring all bands into one body. What you saw to-day was the work of many tine men who have gone before us, and the furher J go into the matter J become more and more convinced that Dunedin Avas the birthplace of band music in Ncav Zealand. I am proud indeed to be standing here m tho place looked upon as tho father and mother of Ncav Zealand’s brass bands.” In Air Frank' Wright, Dunedin could claim one of the best musical adjudicators ivho had been in charge of a contest for many years, said Mr J. L. Gardiner, ivlien proposing the toast to “Tho Judges.” Though he might have 'been critical, bandsmen would surely take it that ho had done this ivitli the host' motive. Air Wright’s ivork had been entirely honest and trustworthy, and it iijas greatly appreciated. As assistant judge, Lieutenant F. W. G. AFLood had Avon much popularity, and was an able official in his capacity. To the military judges, too, praise was rightly’ deserved. The success of the quicksteps was in no small measure due.to them. - Responding, Air Wright said that he was sorry bund iveck Avas finished. If had bee i a most interesting neck to him. and one ivliieh lie would never lorgct. Perhaps lie had been a littlo outspoken, but as Ji.e had remarked iif the hall lie had spoken for the benclit of tho bands. He felt sure that if they bands looked carefully into liis comments, Avhicli he had taken pains to prepare, fruit must surely bo borne. As regards tho test selections, tie did not think that all the conductors kncAV what the music was about. The thing paramount ivas tune. What ivas the use ol beautiful solo ivork if the ivork underneath iverc untunefulf Yet that ivas the trouble ivitli Ne\\ r Zealand bands to-day. Bandsmen had not been made to recognise correct intonation. This ivonld require tremendous practice through sloiv melody playing and the assiduous practice of hymns. Conductors could not he blamed for faulty tuning, hot players must be taught to

; Avaicn inis very important detail. Anf other serious blunder Ngav Zealand ; hands ivere making ivas that they all ■ played too loudly.-.- There ivas a margin i hetivcGn a sonorous sound and noise, ; and bandsmen must he taught to disi tinguisti b.etiveon them. Once the mar- ; gin. ivas overstepped playing became i burlesque. He also made reference to 1 the prevalence of American moutfa- ■ pieces among cornetists. H,e advised bandmasters to discourage young players from using them. The only'mouthpieces to produce the melloiv, velvety cornet tone ivere the old English articles. In conclusion, he hoped that they ivere satisfied ivitli the work he had done, and realised that anything ho had said had been in an endeavour to upiilt the hands of the dominion. Lieutenant Al'Leod said that his particular branch of work (the solos) ivas the nursery of brass hand ivork. The apparent deficiencies of some of the solo players to-day was a matter that was evidently giving a number of the older musicians considerable concern. There was something wrong at the bottom of things. lie appealed to the bandmasters to devote more tuition to the young players, and see that they entered future competitions in good playing form and not merely entering for the sake of a “ liy ” at them. On behalf ot the military judges Alajor Alcad said that they had considered it a great tribute to be called upon by the committee to judge the quickstep, even though they looked upon it as their work. The standard shown m tho quickstep was very high, and from a military point of view very good. It had been difficult to separate some ol the bands. During the past few years the standard had improved considerably. Ho would not like to dictate, hut ho would suggest that in future tho quickstep test selections should be of a more martial nature than was normally tho case. “ The Dunedin City Council ” (proposed by Air D. C. Jolly ant! responded to bv the mayor) and “ Tho Bandmasters'” (proposed by Air T. Pitchio and responded to by Bandmaster A. B. Wills, Invercargill Civic) were also honoured. Vocal solos were contributed by Messrs Alfred AValmsley aiul D. Poole. , who also rendered the duet, 4 Battle I Eve.’ Air T. J. Kirk-Burnnand was the accompanist.

Westport Municipal ...• Test Quickstep Total Selections. Music. Points ... ... 266 S3 349 Ashburton Silver ... -•V ... 2671 81 3481 Nelson Garrison ... ... ... s .. 265 J 80 345} Hastings Citizens ... ... ... ... 269 751 3441 Napier City ... ... • •• . ., 259 i 84* 344 Christchurch Municipal 260 J 801 341 Dunedin Artillery ... • ••: ... ... . 263 75 338 Mataura Town • ••: ...; . 2631 74 3371 Green Island • ••: ...* «•«: •.. • . 257 79 336 Greymouth Civic ... • ••: . 258 761 3341 Dunedin Tramways ... '•. •: * , 259 75 334 West Harbour .... ... ... • ••- • . 254 75 329 Mosgiel Municipal #•* 1* . 247. 73J 3101

Woolston ... •...; ...: >-r Test Quickstep Total Selections. Music. Points. ... ... 280* 81* 362 > Port Nicholson ... s.f, ... ... 274* 80 354* a Invercargill Civic ... : ... ... ... 269 79 348 » St. Kilda ... >.. w ... ... 273 74* 347* g Timaru Municipal ...• ... ... ... ... 261 82* 343* . m Eaikorai ... ... ‘ ... -...■ ... ... 265 76 341 Oamaru Municipal .... ... ... ... 260 77* 337*

Military Pis. Music. Tl. Napier City (Drum-major H. R. Heiford) ... ... .. ... 173} 84} 258 Hastings Citizens (Drum-major C. Guy) ... .. ... 173 75} 248} Mosgiol Municipal (Drum-major C. Williams) ... : .. ... 174J 73} 248} Ashburton Silver (Drum-major W. R. Tucker) ... 160} 81 241} Westport Municipal (Drum-major J. Bentley) .. ... 1572 83 2402 Dunedin Artillery (Drum-major H. Davie) ... ., ... 1663 75 2402 Nelson Garrison (Drum-major A. J. Bennett) ...,■ >, ... 151 J 80 231} Greymouth Civic (Drum-major E. M'Donagh) ... 1563 76} ' ,2314 Christchurch Municipal (Drum-major E. Hunter)' .. ... 149} 80} 230 Dunedin City Tramways (Drum-major A, Hannah) „ ... ' 153} 75 228} Mataura Town (Drum-major B. Durant) ... ... 1532 74 2272 Green Island Municipal (Drum-major' W. Perrin) .. ... 143} 79 2224 West Harbour Brass (Drum-major T. Noonan), >. ... 1412 75 2161

Military. o. - IN Pts. Music. Tl. to t? 30 •• 5 > Invercargill Civic (Drum-major F. J. Logan) ... ;.. 183 79 262 St. Hilda Municipal (Drum-major W. Donaldson) 181* 744 2554 ■i ecm 2 • s CO Timaru Municipal (Drum-major W. Angus) ... ... 171* 824 • 2544 s--g c= i— Port Nicholson Silver (Drum-major J. Duncan) ... ... ... 174 80 254 j H -« CO Woolston (Drum-major W. It. Tucker) ... 1614 814 243 Oamaru Municipal (Drum-major A. Brcmner) ... ... 160J 774 237* a coM, M Kaikorai (Drum-major M. Harvey). ... ... ... 1474 76 . 2234 m h m