CONTEST BETWEEN OAMARU AND INVERGARGILL BANDS.

Inangahua Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1275, 23 May 1883, Page 2

CONTEST BETWEEN OAMARU AND INVERGARGILL BANDS.

We notice that a baud contest came off lately between Oamaru and Invereargill Bands, resulting in the Oaraartt Band beating of! the palm. The Invercargill Band has had the name of being one of the first, if not the first band in Now Zealand, and of course all the more credit is due to the Oamaru Band, which by the way, is conducted by an old pressman — Mr George Jones, editor of the Oamaru Vail, and who is also one of the best violin soloists in New Zealand. We also notice the name of Mr James Mitchell as first baritone. This gentleman, who is sub-editor of the Mail, is well-known, not only as a bandsman, but as no mean exponent of the histrionic art also. We have the judges' decision before us, nicely printed on pink satin ribbon, from which we make a fewnotes, asthey will evidently be of interest to musicians. The Invercargill Band led off with a selection from Rossini's " Semiramide," in which the Judge complains of want of accent and says the phrasing in the andantino could not have been understood. The , horns and basses were all behind the leading instruments in the final "Piu . Mosso." The euphonium [solo in th« andantino left nothing to be desired „ either in execution or intonation, neither of which qualifications can be extended to the trombone solo. The Oamaru Band followed with an over ture to "Semiramide." "Both the phrasing and slurring of the andantino call for special notice, and every note of the bass passage could be distinguished. The style and expression in* fused into the last movement, solely from brass instruments, really astonished me, to say the least of it. The Invercargill Band then gave a fantasia entitled " The Tournament," and the Oaraaru Band followed witha selection from Wagner's "Rienzi," in which the judge considered tHe trombone solo the gem of the evening. Thou each band played a piece at sight, picked out by the judge, who closed his decision with a good hint to all bandsmen, viz : "that unless accent tune, and expression are all studied in rendering of any musical composition it becomes nothing more than sounds by a certain mechanical process." The contest took place at Invercargill, in the Theatre, before a crowded audience.