PASSING NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8100, 27 August 1904, Page 7

PASSING NOTES.

ii The massed bands performance last Soniay Was a distinct success, find the: large iath-%ig o- the public at Lr-Qcaster Park was- another testimony to the popularity of open-air band concerts. The coif eetion taken at the gates was a good one, and no doubt the members of the Engine^s' Band are pleased at the ready responsi"* of tho public to the call for a little assilfcance fer the new instrument fund. Tho _tjjrttel_on Marine Band, under Conductor G* .Collins, very kindly came from Port to -ifip their moi. $ical confreres, and the' \vV»lston... Band mmwm^m m.—■____—_—»^* *——— ' ""*

mmmmmmmmnmmtmmßmmmmmmnmmmmmammMmmmmmmmmmmmm • (Lieutenant W. V. Siddall) also asrasted'. The Lyttelton Band produced' a sweet tone in its selection, and the number was really enjoyable. The Wool_ton combination chose a selection, from Mozart's " Twelfth Mass," and it was quite a treat. The band's tone was full and compact, and the general rendering was, considering that t^e selcctiora had not been specially prepared, excellent. Sergeant Estali, the capable "euphoniumist, was absent, but his place was intelligently filled by an instrumentalist from the West Coast, who has recently joined the hand. Th© Engineers' Band "(Mr W. S. King) gave evidence of marked improvement with the new instruments. Several of th® players were rathej- timid in the selection, but in the marches a fine volume ,6f sound; was produced, and the bandsmen's frienas have reason to be pleased at the steady advancement which is being manifested.. Mr Harry Wilson, late 01 tho Elite Band, who is at present in Wellington, writes under date August 14 that he exped* to re^ turr. , to Christchurch before the end of ths month. Mr Wilson has been in Welling- j ton for some months, working on the new Customhouse building. His many friends will be pleased to ice him back in Christ-' church. " ' Mr Arthur Duggan invited the members of the Elite Band, to a tea at the &androom on bis birthday, August 19. There was a good attendance of the members. On behalf of the members of the band, DeputyBandmaster 8. . Simpson presented' Mr Duggan with a nickel-plated folding- music stand. : The Elite Band has recently* been i strengthened by the addition of five/ new :. players. Th« newly-formed Invercargill Municipal r Band is about to fee deprived of the Jiervices of its conductor, Mr P, H. Mohr, who has received the appointment of bandr master to tie Noil Inf antiry: Battalion Band in Auckland (says the "Southlajw. , Daily Times.") Mr Mohr has ihad; lengthy .'• service in band matters in Invercargill, dafci ing back to ten years ago, when he wa» ' v appodnted to the City Band, some time afj ter the resignation of Conductor Black. He • held this position for four years,, and tben . went to Timaru,, where he had charge- of , tho Timaru Garrison Band "for about three years. After that period he retarneu to In- .. vercargill to take, up a. position on the "Southern Cross" newspaper staff, and he resumed control of the City Band. On the , amalgamation of the City and Gafcrison ' Bands, Mr Mohr was appointed conductor t of ihe combined bodies, and remained ii_ i charge up to a few months ago, when he resigned on account of a split in the camp. Tbe seoeders formed the Municipal Band', . and accepted. . Mr Mohr's offer to act »» bandmaster fox. twelve months wittjout rie- , muceratiop. ;.^*nfcrtunately fo-t the/baxtdjthis arrangement. .caaißdt be carried out^ for ,"■ the reason stated. ' '■, Lieutenant Herd, of the "Wellington Gar- '_-. rison Bariid, has been, appointed to adjudi6ate uptfr. the band contest which is to bs L held at Westport on November 9 and 10. The Timaxu Gaxrjgon Band has received

I -I ■■*-" — ■ ■■ ' a fine lot of* new- music from London, including selections from popular opera a. Mr Tom Me&»r has his band in good form, and the tjeojtle of Timaru are to bo treated lo Soieo pleaeing rotunda performances during the coming season. THE FA3EOTJS BLACK DIKE BAND I am indebted to Mr Sydney Smith, of Hinds, for the following article on the great Yorkshire fraud, Black Dika. Mr Smith is a son-in-law o£ Mr P. Bower, who for over twenty yeairs was bandmaster of this wonderful b&n&. Tho article itseli first appeared in ihe " Textile Industries " periodical: — At the top of a. hiil, situated mid-way between flit© well-known manufacturing towns of !jßradford and Halifax, stands the village of iQu-sensbury. It is here thattlu noted Black Dike Mills of Messrs John Foster anti Son, Limited, are situated. It is close tfpon. eighty years since tho fir.v was established by Mr John Foster, sn-_ to-day th<> works cover a floorage area c fifteen a^.ces, and find employment for about 2000 hands, who are engaged in the m anuf ac -tire df the moist beautiful fabrics — Alpaca., -nohair, and' worsted dress goods, silk seals, and plushes. If Messrs Foster and Son are in the front rank of manufacturers, they certainly occupy a similar position with regard to Uhe generous interest they maintain in all who liave the good fortune to be connected with their firm. This is shown in- many ways, but is especially notable in their unparalleled support of the famous Black Dike Band, an organisation which owes its formation to the late Mr John Foster, and which, but for tho generous assistance of the Foster family, would not now occupy the premier position amongst the best brasa bands of the conr-try. It will doubtless be interesting to the majority of our readers to learn something of this celebrated combination, the members df which are masons, joiners, textile workmen, etc, engaged at the Black Dike Mills, and are proud to own tltt_aselve3 as Mess-t- Fosters' Band. In 1816, there appears to have been hands organised in the village of Queenbury, and Peter Wharton's Reed Band took first position, the late Mr John Foster being a. member and playing the French horn, an instrument which is treasured by the f amUi"" at the present time . In 1833 , ano ther reed band was established at Queensbury, and, in 1855, Messrs Foster and Son took the question of the band into consideration, and established it in connection with their worts, finding each m.mber employment, and "bearing tho expense of new instrument* and uniforms. From that time for. ward the success of the combination has been unparalleled. All the members are bofia fide workers at tha mills, and th* masters make themselves responsible for such expenses as providing all instruments, uniforms, etc. The Black Dike Band has met -with wonderful success since its first formation, and this was crowned by the achievement at tha Crystal Palace contest, on September 27, 1902,. whsn, in company with the be_t bajids in the country, it won the One Thousand Guinea Challenge Trophy, a first prize of £40, a gold-plated cornet, valued at twenty guineas, given by Messrs Booeey and Co., together with a 'bronze medal for each member of the band. There were quit© 80,000 p-opla at the contest and the decision of the judges, Mr GLT. H. Sneddon and Mr R. Stead, gave entire satisfaction. Their remarks on the band's performance were short and to the point, and are summed up in an extract:—"Criticism is, out of the question." They awarded W0 points, tho full number possible. The Crystal Palace contest was remarkable in one respect, which shows the wonderful ability of West Biding artisans as musicians, and Whether in vocal or in instrumental music is this noticeable. In proof of this, we may say that, out of nine prizes offered in this contet, four were awarded to bands resident in, or within four miles of, ths ancient manufacturing town of Halifax. These bands^were— Black Dike Mills 5 second, Wyke (a village about four milea from Halifax) ; fourth. King Cross, Halifax, and Sixth, Lee Mount, Halifax. Of tho latter thi-* bands we may state that "Wyke alwaya runs Black Dike very close in any contest, and it is a remai'kable organisation of village musicians. ._ King, Cross Band, on the day preceding his Majesty's Coronation, had the honour of playing'before the King at Buckingham Palace, and Lee Mount were- the winners of the Thousand Guinea Challenge Trophy atf the Crystal Palace, in 1901, but, in this cas<_, th& Black Dit* Band did not compete, owing to an engagement at the Glasgow International Exhibition. The johtes.^aa only taken place three times, the first winners being another northern tand, the Denton Original. L L L •-■■ thi* year'- (1902) winners have many claims upon their services, the effect of a sucoess such as that on Septrmber 27 is retaaxfcable- as, within one week, thirty inquiries for term* of engagement were received. _ ■ ■ _ .. . . This band has always hsen an enthusi. astic co&rgjet-tor at coatests t an-* its $uc-

-1 cesrsos hive resulted in a sum. of £7455 Ss lOd being won. These are actn^l figures, and not a random Rtafc-jneat. success at the Crystal Pa?i»ca this year (1502). is a repetition of the band's performance in a contest at. the saint plaoe as far back as 1866, when 169 band!, en--tared, and about 100 competed, Black Pilss being placed first. To-day it h#lds a uniqus record, being the winner of sevan_e_n consecutive first prizes and ninet«oa firsts in twenty-one consecutive contests. Tlie band's first competition was at Hull,. in 1856, and second prize was gained, and, since that time it ha& a splendid record. 01 first prizes, it has won 104; second, 62; third, 33;' fourth, IT; fifth, 10; consola- : tion prizes, 3; special prizes for soloasts, etc., 61; tied with other bands, I-l; priz.es for mai-ches and glees. 27; goW. medals, 50; silver medals, 30; challenge ?ups, 20; uniform prizes, 5, and glee^ ,rize3 16. j' In the Juhile« year of 1887, the band had t, most successful time, winning nine'firs ii \ jrizes. four seconds, and one third, and imd 104 engagements, including '.Manchester, Newcastle and Saltaire Exhibition?, ranging flora one day to thrae weeks. The largest cash prize ever offered was' won by Black Dike at Blackpool, in 1893 ' This consisted of £75 and a challenge cup, valued at £25.. Bello Vue Gard-ns, Manchg-i-r, has rjways boen attractive to Black Dike, and the band has created a record there. It has won; 11 first prizes, this number being more than ! double that of any other band. It has gained four firsts in six contests afc which Tt competed, and first, three times in sue cession, in 1879, 1850 and , 1831, in the fivst and last-named years being gold medalists. For this achievement it was barred from competing, and, upon re-entering in 1884, was awarded third'prize. The present year (1902) has brought more laurels from feell Vue. In the contest on September 1, Black Dike took first prizo again. This was the fifty year's jubilee of the gardens, and -Xtra prizes wero off-fed. Wyke Band took second place. Tlie first prize consisted of fifty pounds, in cash, fiitygninea chnllengo cup, sixty-guinea solid silver cornet, given by Beaton and Co., London, gold medal, three guineas, another gold medal, given by tho "Brass Band News," four guineas; a medal for bandmaster, given by the "British Bandsman," three guineas; and jvwenty-four silver, gold-centre medals,' for the members of the band. The prize, therefore, amounted to quite £210. At the Preston Guild. wl_ic_t is held 'every twenty years, a contest took place . on September *2. The. first prjza was £40, and Black Dike followed up its Manchester success of th& pr.v_bns day by again winning it, Wykc bifeag once more placed second. The band was professionally conducted by Mr A. Owen, from 1880 to 1888. Since that year, Mr J. Giadney h*s been retained by Messra Foster anfl. Son as trainer and professional conductor* To these gentlemen much credit is di.c» but we nnisfc not forget to mention the -wonderful abilities, of Mr Phineas Bower, *who was bandmaster from 1874 until th® end of 1890, during which p_riod tnany notable successes were recorded. Asf a solo •euphonium player, Mr Bow-fer had no superior, either amateur or ifrofessional, and he received many offers 'rom notable bands, amongst which was the Grenadier Guards. As showing his wonderfulskul with the instrument, he never failed to carry off first prize wherever he comP^!~ He won six instruments,; valued at 8133, two silver cups, and ma-ty mon-y prizes. His brother, Mr H. Bow^r, succeeded hw as bandmaster, and he is an accomphsaca cornet player. At the Blackpool conttsst in 1893, professional cbrnet-player3 wttce barred, and it. fell to Mr H. Bower to uu-dertake the solo in the contest, and his performance "*** credited as being quite «fl;tial to that 01 tne barred professionals. #.c is. * winner ot prizes also. .it, Mr Ceres Jackson, oV Braiakj^ls ™a solo cornet player. H* took the position vacated by Mr Palsy. It has b<*n acknowledged that Mr Jalikson is wjthoot a rival as an orchestral i 111*^?" doubtedly the position «*f soloist is .*a«y maintained by this gentleman. ' On th* retirement of Mr P- Bower froitt 1 tbe leadership of the bind 'h© ''■▼»• ? r ,* '' sented with a, vorvhaiadsbnie testimonial. He was approached Vm Messrs Foster and Son, with the result, that he. foffft-d J junior band from woril erifin tie WiHv an fl : no has since continued to instruct the-nana, ' so that thß senior organisation has ? . ne nursery for recruits, .several of the J*""**" members already hatfijtg been promoted to ' tho senior. divisiort'L The band is,;there- ! fore, as independent of outside asslstanc* ' as it is possible tcbe, and may be worthily ' considered to he ia. jeality Blact f»^« Mills' Band. We may qdote-an opinion * given by that fine a;usician and -eon-posei*. : —the late. Sir Sullivan, ffho, upon ■