TARANAKI BANDS

Taranaki Daily News, 22 March 1935, Page 6

TARANAKI BANDS

— — 0 CONTEST AT STRATFORD NEW PLYMOUTH WINS B GRADE. PIPE CHAMPIONSHIP TO HAWERA. Fine weather, a very large attendance both afternoon and'evening, and an improved standard of . play all round among the 11 competing bands made the Taranaki band contest at Victoria Park, Stratford, yesterday an outstanding event in the history of contests in the province. The judges of both brass and pipes section expressed pleasure at the-quality of the entries. Seven brass bands, four B grade and three C grade, and four pipe bands competed. The afternoon was occupied with the quickstep and in the evening the selections were heard. Before the afternoon programme the bands paraded down Broadway on their way from the fire brigade station, to the park, and a fair crowd lined the streets to see them pass. The Taranaki Regimental-Municipal Band won the B grade championship by a margin of four points, its total being 269. Hawera (265) was second and Stratford (259) was third. Manaia, which did not compete in the quickstep, was fourth with a total of 112 points. The C grade championship was won by Inglewood with a total of 224 points, Patea being second with 218 and Eltham third with 217. The pipe band championship was won by Hawera with 491 J points. Stratford was second with 450 points and New Plymouth third with 442 J points, Auroa, which did not compete in the selection, secured 306 i points,. Apologies for the absence of the Mayor of Stratford, Mr. J. W. McMillan, and the president of the Taranaki Brass and Pipe Bahds’ Union, Mr. P. Skoglund, were expressed by Mr. W. P. Gordon, deputy-Mayor, who welcomed the bandsmen and spectators in the afternoon. Very poor weather had been experienced last time the contest was held at Stratford, he said, but no fault could be found this time. He referred to the value of annual contests as a training ground for young players. Details of the judging and comments on the quickstep competition are:— BRASS BANDS. B Grade. Taranaki Regimental and New Plymouth Municipal, musical points 133, military points 185%, total 318% 1 Hawera Municipal, 130, 175%, 305% .. 2 Stratford Municipal, 126, 160%, 286% .. 3 C Grade. Eltham Municipal, 104, 178, 282 1 Patea Municipal, 106, 171%, 277% .... 2 Inglewood Municipal, 109, 163%, 272% . 3 PIPE BANDS. Hawera Highland, 169, 160%, 329% .... 1 Stratford Highland, 154, 153, 307 .... 2 Auroa Highland, 146, 160%, 306% .... 3 New Plymouth Caledonian Society, ISI, 150%, 301% 4 COMMENTS OF THE JUDGES. The brass bands were judged by Mr. J. J. Drew, Wellington, who noticed a considerable improvement in the quickstep in both B and C grade bands compared with last year. One of the biggest faults he found in both grades, particularly the C grade, was in the intonation, he said. It was noticeable that the three B bands scored both musical and military points according to their placings on the aggregates but in the C grade Inglewood scored the highest musical points, though its military points pulled it down to third place. Patea, in second place, scored second for musical points while the winner, Eltham, had the lowest musical points but.the highest military points which gave it first place in the aggregate. “Rimutaka” was the choice of the Taranaki Regimental and New Plymouth Municipal Band. The judge remarked that the opening was not quite successful with the top cornets. The expression ’marks were well attended to, the crescendos particularly being well done. The euphonium did good work. The bass solo revealed a good set of trombones and in the trio the soprano came through well. The second time past, which marked the opening of the number again, was an improvement on the first effort. The drummers played judiciously, but the band was a little out of tune. The brass 'solo was very good by all. The third opening was much better, although there was a wrong note from the trombone section in bar seven. The band was producing a good tone and was performing well at the halt. The next section was on a par with the second time through, except that the soprano was somewhat sharp. The finish was played well by a big-toned band. The Hawera Municipal Band played “Orb.” The judge commented that the first opening was fair. Three bars were not a success. On the first strain the soprano failed. The band produced a good tone, although the trombones were a trifle heavy, which spoiled the balance. The band was still a little out of tune at the trio. The trills of the repiano and soprano came through well. A good opening was given the second time and the band showed all-round improvement. The expression marks received correct attention and the soprano improved. The basses vzere on the heavy side in the third strain and in the bass solo there were a few wrong notes in the trombone section. Articulations were

not clear enough in the trio and one bar was out of tune. At this stage the soprano was doing good work. The band played well at the halt and the bass solo was much better. The first-time opening of the Stratford Municipal Band’s choice, “Orion,” was fairly well played, although the soprano was not heard in syncopation, said Mr. Drew. The band was very light and there were several minor slips. In the third strain the band improved but lapsed when it got out of tune. Minor slips continued to occur and overblowing by the comets spoiled some movements. ELTHAM MUNICIPAL BAND. In the C grade section the Eltham Municipal Band played “Ingonar.” Referring to the march past the first time, the judge said there was a fair opening with the top cornets, just a little blatant on bar 5. The expression was attended to well but the bass drum was a little too heavy, while the bass solo trebles were not together in the semi-quavers. The repeat was better but the bass drum was still too heavy and the top end of the band had a tendency to be weak. On the second occasion Mr. Drew found the band a little out of tune and he noticed minor slips in the second strain. The balance of the band was not very good. The expression marks were well attended to, though there were euphonium slips in bar 16. Another fair opening characterised the third time, with marks well attended to, though the band was not well balanced and was a little out of time. The band did well at the halt. The trumpeting could have been a little cleaner on the eighth bar and the second strain could have been much quieter, was the comment on the Patea Municipal Band, which played “Sons of the Soil.” The band was slightly out of tune and expression marks were not attended to, said the judge. The trombone was not effective in the bass solo and the trio could have been much quieter. The euphonium did good work in the second march past but the trombone was a little overbalancing in the articulation and the bass solo could have been much cleaner. The band fell away a little, evidently during evolutions. The third time found the opening a little weak, with the band still out of tune and expression marks still not attended to. There was an improvement at the halt with the bass solo fair. In the trio the top comets were a little overblown but expression marks were given more attention at the halt. INGLEWOOD MUNICIPAL BAND. The baritone euphoniums were good in the first air of “Arethusa” played by the Inglewood Municipal Band, Mr. Drew considered. The drummers were playing to copy and expression marks were well attended to, though the band fell away a little at the evolutions. The lead into the bass solo was somewhat weak but otherwise the section was very good. Mr. Drew detcted a wrong note in the bar before the trio and the band was a little out of tune in the trio. The expression marks were still well brought out. The intonation suffered somewhat but the crescendo was well done. The basses were somewhat weak in the first strain on the second occasion but the second strain showed the expression marks being given every attention, though the bass drum was a shade heavy. One comet was a little overblown and spoiled the balance. The crescendo was a shade overdone. On the third occasion the opening was not precise but otherwise the band did very well. The accents in the second strain were a shade too boisterous and the lead into the bass solo was again faulty, but apart from those points the band was very good and could be credited with a good performance. The Hawera Pipe Band was outstanding in the quickstep, said the judge, Mr. S. Clothier, Hamilton, and was probably equal to any B grade band in New Zealand. The , Stratford band had improved considerably since last year, but the other two, Auroa and New Plymouth, were not up to contest form. WORK OF PIPE BANDS. The Hawera pipes were the best tuned instruments in the competition, said the judge. The side drumming - was very good but could be improved upon by getting the drums dead in tune. The tune played was given the highest points, as it was the most difficult in the section. The finish was excellent. From a military point of view it was the smartest band in the competition, being well dressed and smart in its movements. The band had shown a big improvement since the last contest. The Stratford band performed well, but needed more drill with the pipes in the counter-marching. On the turn, the pipes occasionally missed notes. The bass drummer was good. The leading side drummer did not use enough light and shade, and the side drums were not quite in harmony. The standard of the tune played by the Auroa Pipe Band was not as good as that of the winning bands and the tone of the instruments was weak. The turning movements were also weak. The set of drums was the best in the competition and the leading side drummer added many points to the band’s performance, playing the rhythm of the tune on the drum. There was a good prospect for this band. The New Plymouth pipers were in good tune, but the attack was weak. The band had bad luck in that some of the pipers got on to the wrong part during the quickstep and that lost points. Otherwise the finish was good. The side drums were not quite in tune. The band had good prospects, however, as. many of the players were young. BRASS AND PIPE SELECTIONS. A splendid range of “own selections” was heard in the evening in the opinion of the judge, Mr. Drew. “I enjoyed myself to-night,” he said. “The playing was very good indeed in both, grades. In the B grade particularly there were some very fine performances. The winning band, the Taranaki RegimentalMunicipal, put up an excellent performance. Hawera was also very fine but tackled a selection which, though a splendid one, was too difficult for the band.” The results were:— e B Grade. Taranaki Regiment-Municipal, 136 .... 1

Hawera, 135 -2 Stratford, 133 3 Manaia, 122 4 C Grade. Inglewood, 115 1 Eltham, 113 2 Patea, 112 3 The pipe band selections were better than the quickstep pieces, said the judge, Mr. S. Clothier. Hawera was again outstanding. All the performances showed a great improvement on those of last year. The results were:— Hawera, 162 1 Stratford, 143 .' 2 New Plymouth, 141 3 The arrangements for the contest were splendid for both bandsmen and members of the public. The officials were: Executive, Messrs. D. J. Malone (chairman), P. Skoglund, S. W. Whyte, W. Mills, T. W.. Smith, W. Eagar, R. L.' Lowe, R. Watson, J. H. Burmester, F. J. Nolan and A. Moon. Music judges: Brass, Mr. J. J. Drew; pipes, Mr. S. Clothier. Military judges: Captain J. N. Henry, N. (chief judge), Warrant-Officer J. L. O. Rowe, N.Z.P.S., Warrant-Officer J. T. R. Bell, N.Z.P.S., Warrant-Officer G. Quayle, N.Z.P.S., Sergeant J. D. Armstrong, N.Z.P.S. Judge of instruments: Mr. R. L. Lowe. Timekeeper: Mr. J. Petrie. Supervisor: Mr. P. S. Finlayson. Secretary: Mr. C. S. Kelly. Considerable assistance was given by Mr. J. G. Osborne, secretary of the New Zealand Brass Bands’ Association, who attended the contest throughout. COUNTRY COMPETITION PLAY. NGAERE AND NORMANBY WIN. By 91 to 30 Ngaere beat Rawhitiroa in a rural cricket match yesterday. Details are:— Ngaere: R. Bocock l.b.w. b Knuckey 8, Edwards b Scott 4, P. Martin c Stretton b Thame 23, F. Bocock b Scott 6, Clarke b Scott 2, Arthur b Knuckey 37, Pedersen b Scott 0, Jury c Walker b ; Knuckey 0, Seed l.b.w. b Knuckey 3, Webb not out 1, R. Walker b Knuckey O, extras 7, total 91; bowling, Knuckey 5 for 42, Scott 4 for 35, Thame 1 for 7. Rawhitiroa: Prankerd c Jury b Clarke 2, Stretton l.b.w. b Arthur 1, Ford b

Arthur 1, Scott b Clarke 9, Knuckey b Clarke 1, Walker c R. Bocock b Clarke 2, Thame c R. Bocock b Arthur 0, Phillips b Arthur 5, Bootten b Clarke 0, O’Connor not out 2, Johnston c Arthur b Clarke 0, extras 7, total 30; bowling, Clarke 6 for 8, Arthur 4 for 13. By 123 runs to 58 Normanby beat Methodist. Details are:— Normanby: Howell retired 43, H. Hughes c Sanson" b Lewis 2, B. Hughes b Sanson 7, Linn retired 40, Gane c and b Rybum 2, A. Hughes not out 14, Graydon c and b Sanson 0, Riley l.b.w. b Sanson 4, Kennedy not out 3, extra 8, total (for seven wickets) 123; bowling, L. Lewis 2 for 21, Rybum 1 for 25, Peters 0 for 16, Sanson 3 for 27, Bridger 0 for 9, Haycock 0 for 16. Methodist: Haycock b Hughes 1, R. Lewis c Hughes b B. Hughes 11, Sancon b Hughes 1, Bridger b Riley 13, L. Lewis c Kennedy b Linn 2, A. Ryburn b Hughes 1, W. Peters b Hughes 0, Blackstock c A. Hughes b B. Hughes 0, H. Peters c Linn b A. Hughes 25, Clement b Linn 3, Anderson not out 1, total 58 bowling, B;. Hughes 6 for 20, Linn 2 for 15, Riley 1 for 14, A. Hughes 1 for 7.