The Band Contest

Southland Times, Issue 13060, 7 November 1894, Page 2

The Band Contest

SOLO COMPETITIONS. The secretary of the Contest Committee has received from the judge at the recent band contest in Invercargill, the following report upon the solo competitions : — Trombones. The trombone solos stand out to advantage. There was some really excellent playing, and such close running that one is almost tempted to exclaim “How happy could I be with either, were tother dear charmer away.” But as there are degrees of excellence I will leave the points to explain the order of merit in which they follow. No. 1, W. Bird, “Gipsy’s Warning”—A difficult solo, splendidly played. Execution neat and accurate ; tone clear and resonant; stops well ip tune, played with great taste and judgment—Bo points ; Ist, prize. No. 2, F. Horne, “Sehusught”—Excellently played ; execution neat ; tone not so clear as No. 1. The theme was well played —79 points ; 2nd prize. No. 3, R. Jenkins, “ Men of Harlech ” — Theme played equally as well; tone good ; but execution not so neat as No. 2—78 points ; 3rd prize. No. 4, G. King, “ Le Roi”—Theme not quite in tune; fairly good execution and tone; but player does not stop in tune. Very good performance—77 points. No. 5, T. Graves, “Long, Long Ago”— Moderately difficult; has a very good tone, but glides from one note to the other a little too much. Should shift more promptly ; too much slur—a grave error—76 points. No. 6, J. McKenzie, “ Zenobia ’’—Theme not quite in tune in places. Breaks his notes. Not clean. A very creditable performance —74 points. Euphonions. No. 1, J- E. O’Brien, “ Anna Bolena "’ — Very neatly and well played, with good taste and expression—7B points ; 3rd prize. No. 2, D. Boyd, “Sans Paroles”—Remarkably well played. Tone excellent and good expression—Bo points ; 2nd prize. No. 3, C. Forest, “ The Conquering Hero ” —Very nicely played ; displays good execution, but not a good piece for the euphoaion, it being a cornet solo, and does not give much scope for expression. Tone good. Highly creditable performance —76 points. No. 4, A. Ferguson, “Pilgrim of Love.”— Played in an artistic manner, and with expression, but lacked variety of tone. Seems to import the quality of the lower register into the higher one. Middle and upper register not good quality, in fact, “woolly”— 75 points. No. 5, H. Necklen, “ My Pretty Jane.”— A difficult solo and splendidly played. The theme was lacking somewhat in expression, but the tone and execution throughout was clear and good ; all the passages Were very neatly done. A capital performance.—B2 points, Ist prize. Basses. No. 1, G. Davie, “ Tom Bowling A very fair tone and good execution, but the emphasis is much too strong at the beginning of each bar ; the style also was very stilted—sl points. No. 2, A. Miller, “ Ashgrovo Very well played, tone and execution good—s 3 points; 2nd prize. No. 3, J. Kay, “ The Challenge ’’—Accents the beginning of each bar too strongly. Same fault as No. 1, but in a lesser degree. Otherwise well played—s2 points. No. 4, F. Albrecht, “O, Lovely Night ” —Very nicely played. S yle much better ; also good tone—s 4 points ; Ist prize.

Tenor Horns. No. I,’ H. Davie, “ Alexis ” — A capital performance. Played with tMte and expression ; tone also good-*57 points; Ist prize. No. 2, H. Coughlan, “ You'll Remember Me "—Melody without any expression, and blows the notes out of tune—they also hang fire. Not good quality of tone. Instrument not in tune with the piano. A rather rough performance—4o points. No. 3, James Morton,The Ashgrove ” —Very good tone, and fairly well played, but blows his notes A’s and G’s sharp— 55 points. ' ' No. 4, W. Whiteford, “ Buy a Broom.”— Not sure of his notes, hangs fire; nervous perhaps. Moderate performance only—49 points. No. 5, E. Griffiths, “ Pilgrim of Love."— Not certain of his notes in places, but very nicely played—s 6 points; 2nd prize. No. 6, J. McKeney, “The Ashgrove.”— Plays with good expression, and tone is of good quality, but accents many of the notes too strongly—ss points ; 3rd prize. Baritones. No. 1, A. McLeod, “ The Hardy Norseman,” —Opened very, well. Theme played with good tone and expression. Excellently played—7o points ; Ist prize. No. 2, T. Bartlett, “ The Minstrel Boy." —Something wrong with his embouchure! tone sounds in places as if squeezed out, aud A’s not in tune. Not good quality ; sounds as if wind was escaping from valves, in fact all the valve notes are bad. Execution and phrasing fairly good—6s pointe ; 2nd prize. Sopranos. It is with great pleasure that on this occasion I note the playing of the sopranos. I am indeed pleased to see them coming so well to the front. They were both excellent, but taking into consideration the relative difficulties-of each selection the points will be as follows :— No. 1, H. Bezzant, “ Scenes that are Brightest."—7s points; 2nd prize. No. 2, C. McGlashan, “ Haydn ”—BO points ; Ist prize. Cornets. No. 1, J. Rodgers, “ Alexis.” This was a well played solo, displayed good taste and expression, also good quality of tone, but not quite sure of his notes here and there. 79 points ; 2nd prize. No. 2, J. Thomas, “The Farewell. 1 ’ Theme somewhat disjointed, ’ nervous perhaps but nice tone. Notes hanging fire; a great effort to get through. This gentleman has the making of a good cornet player in him when he gets over his nervousness. 65 points. No. 3, J. W. Glennie, “ Alexis "—A capital performance. Tone excellent; played with feeling and all the passages taken very clean and nice—Bo points ; Ist prize. No. 4, J. Humphrey, “ Pilgrim of Love ” —Theme all out of joint. Cannot get his notes promptly. A little better further on. A moderate performance—67 points. No. 5, J. Phelong, “ Home Sweet Home ” —A very fair performance. Tone a little “ woolly,” and rather uncertain in his notes. Blows the C s a little sharp. A creditable pei formance—69 points. No. 6, F. Davey, “ Haydn ” —Made a break in the introduction. Theme played with great taste; tone sounds like the flugel horn ; displays good execution. Very nicely played—7B points ; 3rd prize. Geo. A. Mabtin, Professor of Music, Wanganui.