The N.Z. Bands’ Contest

Southland Times, Issue 12773, 5 December 1893, Page 3

The N.Z. Bands’ Contest

;■ ;i, - , k !”• ■ , ; THE JUDGE’S REPORT. •/ /is ;ii _' , . ' _ <j o Following is the report of the Judge, Mr Ji G. A. Martin, on the performances of the various bands at the recent contest :— ; , Thursday, November 9. ‘‘VERDI.”

<!/ Ffo. 1 Band (Queenstown Garrison)—Very fair band. Tempo correct, soprano not sure of his notes «r times:™Af letter “L” do not seem to .understand ..the difference between a ''bind'” or “ tie” and. the slur. This passage is not abind or tie, as the dots over the notes:should have shown them; should have been-played in one breath, and slightly; articulated.. Just before letter ‘‘ E ” did not hear the holding notes of. the ■solo cornet.. A very fair performance. 50 E °No! :2 Band (Oamaru Navals)—Good ■ band, and tempo correct, horns out of tune 'in ‘‘ Nabuco ” (.holding notes), soprano good, euphonium and trombone good, style ,not what it should be. 61 points. j , No. 3 Band (Invercargill City Guards)— ..'Tempo good, cornet flat, euphonium broke .cadenza, trombone best yet, baritone and euphonium very uncertain about their pas--1 sage in “Nabuco,” soprano not so goo£ as No<2, and general tone of band not so good.

? 4 Band (Christchurch Garrison)— Very good band, but lack precision, not good in the attack, have an inclination to hang too long on their notes, solo cornet excellent, trombone best yet, soprano good, euphonium also, band well in tune. 64 points. No 5 Band (Wellington Garrison)—Attack good, solo comet best, yet, euphonium also, trombone good, soprano neat, band well m tune, marks carefully attended to, very nieely played. 68 points. . , "No. 6 Band (Dunedin Engineers)—Opened well. Trombone and euphonium good, also solo cornet. Good band, but style not so ’good as No. 5, nor so well in tune. 66 points. No. 7 Band (Wellington City)—Tempo correct. Trombone beet cadenza as yet. Cornet and euphonium good. Band not well intuiie. 64 points. ■ No. 8 Band (Stanmore) -Very fair band. Euphonium blows his A’s sharp, trombone a little sharp;' band not well in tune; just before letter L, cornet made D natural instead of D flat. 60 points. , , , No 9 Band (Dunedin Navals)—Good toned band, lack somewhat in style. Time good. Solo cornet nice tone, but rather mechanical in places. Trombone best as yet. Basses - woolly at times; as they get further on, much better. Selection well played. 65 P °Nm'lo Band (Timaru Garrison)— Religioso not in tune, “ Nabuco ” cornets little out of tune, solo cornet good, euphonium good tone and style, best cadenza as yet, trombone little out of tune at finish. Andante, baritones out of tune, time good, otherwise well rendered selection. 58 points. No. Il Band (Sydenham)—Commenced vigorously, just after letter “ H ” at the flf some confusion amongst the flats, D flat very sick, and before letter “D” at cadenza wrong notes played in the chord by band. Largo Religioso little too slow, band out of tune in trombone solo and andante also. Instruments are overblown, consequently are out of tune and rather rough. 46 P °Nm' 12 Band (Canterbury Engineers)— Rather boisterous ; band came in wrong in the cadenza, and at letter “I’ euphonium and trombone good, but band out of tune, little better than No. 11, but not much. 48 points. No. 13 Band (Kaikorai)— A very even performance, tempo good, a little too loud in the pianos in places, euphonium excellent, clear tone, solo cornet good, also the horn, selection very nicely played. 66 points. No. 14 (Invercargill Garrison)—A very good-toned band, play with precision, and fairly good style, might be improved, solo cornet very good, soprano also, second parts heard to advantage, tempo good, euphonium good, but a little sharp in places, and sometimes woolly (lip out of order, perhaps), a very good all round performance : best as yet. 70 points.

Saturday, November 11.

“ ROBERTO.”

No. 1 (Dunedin Navals)—Band well together, cornet very good, baritone does not accent his notes properly, slight mistake in Prayer, bass came in too soon, euphonium too loud in the pianos. 54 points. •No-. 2 (Invercargill City Guards)—Cornet a little flat in places ; baritone same-fault as No. 1 band, in andante, 3-4; repiano did not take up his points prompt enough; basses not together ; hang too much on the notes; band too loud in the pianos. 52 P (Oamaru Navals)—Solo cornet sharp, not good quality of tone and bad phrasing. Euphonium in cadenza made wrong shake. Soprano forces his top notes. Band nob well in tune. G sharp of horn in Prayer bad. 48 points. . No. 4 (Christchurch Garrison)—Cornet plays with expression ; good tone. Soprano good, euphonium good, and the shake in cadenza correct in the Prayer. Basses slur where they should not after the Prayer. Bass and trombone not together. The attack of this band riot good ; hang too long on their notes. 50 points. No. 5 (Invercargill Garrison) — Comet good tone and expression, band well in tune but not up to the standard of this same band’s “Veidi,” soprano did not get his top. A clean in horn solo, cadenza best yet, a good band. 58 points. No. 6 (Timaru Garrison)—Started a little out of tone, second cornets got wrong, soprano good, solo cornet good and better in tune than he was in “ Verdi,” eupho. cadenza very good and well played, andante was kept nicely subdued, this is the only band that played the sestetb correctly ; if this band can manage to hang together they will forge their way much higher up the list at future contests. 51 points.

No. 7 (Wellington City)—A good-toned band. Tempo good, and marks attended to; solo cornet troubled over his B flat ; euphonium made wrong shake in cadenza. I note also a slip and false accent of horn m some of the passages ; otherwise a very fair performance. 56 points. . No. 8 . Kaikorai)—Good opening ; all the movements carefully played; solo cornet good ; horn the best yet. A well-rendered selection. 57 points.

No. 9 (W ellington Garrison)— Well-played selection ; cadenza particularly good. Horns did not take up their points in some places. This selection was not up to this same band’s standard in “ Verdi.” 55 points. No. 10 (Canterbury Engineers)—Comets flat, and euphonium blows out of tune, baritone also ; comets play fairly well—liberties taken with the time. Band out of tune; very rough performance. 44 points. No. ii (Dunedin Engineers)—This band much better in tune, but rather laboured performance; comet flat in places, not good style ; cadenza very good. 46 points. No. 12 (Stanmore)—Solo cornet flat; euphonium sharp and playing too mechanical • comet in running passage made B natural instead of B flat; euphonium broke cadenza. 42 points.

No. 13 (Queenstown Garrison)—Rather crude in horn solo, the soprano absent in places, solo cornet not sure of his notes, band drag their notes greatly in the threefour poco andante, in the andantmo euphonium and band out of tune. 40 points. No 14 (Sydenham)—Better played than No. 12, did not make the same mistake in the' con forza e strigendo, but in the poco andante (four flats) cornet made D natural instead of D flat, euphonium very good, but the instruments (are all overblown. I may add that on seeing, this band on Sunday I find that they are composed chiefly,oiyoung boys; that being so, I consider that their conductor deserves credit for the manner ho has been able to pull them through this difficult selection. 42 points. Geo.. A. Martin.