OUR BANDSMEN.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11927, 9 February 1917, Page 3

OUR BANDSMEN.

LOCAL NEWS AMD FOREIGN NOTES.

(By TROMBONE.)

Bandsmen heard with much regret en Wednesday of the sad boating totality at Lyttciton Head**, hy which two lives were lost. One of the victims was Mr Plulip Fluerty. who was wellknown as bandmaster of the Sumner Brass Band- The late Mr Fluerty was born at St Albans, and was thirty years of age. He was a resident of Sumner for twenty years, and took great izstere&c in band music and the hand at the popular seaside resort. He wa-. a member of tho firm of Lang and Fluerty. painters and decorators. Deceased leaves a wid'ow and five little firls jnourn their loss. The sympathy a* »Ul bandsmen will be accorded to the distressed relatives. I desire to thank Messrs C. Begg and Co.. the well-known musical firm, for wnding me one of Messrs Besson and Co.'s miniature poekctbooks for 1917. The firm also sends me an illustrated pamphlet, in which appear the photographs of the winning bands from the inception of the Thousand-Guinea Trophy competition at the Crystal Palace in 1900. Denton Original won in that year, and subsequent winners to 101 M, since when -o contest has taken place, nere Leo Mount. Black Dike Mills, Besses-o'-the-Barn, Hebbwin Colliery, Irwell Springs, Wingate's Temperance (1906 and' 1007), Irwell Springs, Shaw, Foden's Motor Waggon Works, Crosfield's Soap Works, St Hilda's Golliory and Irwell Springs. It will be seen that Irwell Springs has gained the coveted trophy on three occasions, while Mingate s Temperance Band is the only ether one to gam the trophy more than f.nce. The pamphlet states that with two exceptions, Besses-o'-the-Barn in 1903 and Irwell Springs in 1913, all the winning bands have been equipped with Besson instruments. On the front page of the pamphlet is a fine picture of tho trophy.

llrass bands lose caste a: lot. owing if. the rough, neglectful way in which many players treat thoir instruments. \o need to bring evidence of this; wo ii 11 see it only too often. Tho player who does not respect his instrument f-;in hardly expect others to look with respect upon it. A pity they d'o not -ee how hurtful to the whole body of brass bands this neglect is. No one .-cos a violin handled so disrespectfully as most brass instruments are. Yet the brass is just as delicate, and pr - bably a far more wonderful instrument n c regards the science embodied in it. Wo ('"'Brass Band News") beg bandsmen to consider that the first step to /rain respect for brass bands by outsiders, is to show respect themselves, by caring for the cleanliness and good order of the instruments. Instil this into young players, by example a,<s well .••s by precept. Treat the instrument'! loviiurly, and your treatment of them so will be reflected in the attitude of observers.

To be judged by a blind adjudicator is something unique, but that was the of competitors -who took pari ;n a solo and quartet competition. ;:t Stalvbridge recently. The name of the judge was Air W. H. RichardsonAn All-Belgian Band was formed recently in Durham with the following instrumentation:—One soprano, eight eorn-t:-, eight flugel horns, four baritone-, four euphoniums, four saxophones, four trombones and one circular bass. Ts tho recent placing of players when a bam! is on the march the best (says tho :: British Bandsman")? The tone of basses and trombones is often so penetrating that other instruments in the band are overpowered. Have you ever tried when on the march placing (•asses aud trombones in the back row, that row being separated from others by the drums? The experiment has been tried with considerable success, and one bandmaster you all know says he will never go back to the old formation. Writing on " British Bands After the War"* 5 in tho "Canadian Bandsman and Musician" of November, •-.Musical" says:—As regards the fo.ture of contesting in England, the opinion of those best qualified to judgo i.-. that, if the movement is to retain its hold on the people, many of the abuses which have gradually crept iu must be entirely swer/t away. For instance, we have Band Associations in some districts whose avowed object is the cultivation of good music and the .spread of contesting, but who, as a matter of fact, are controlled by 'cliques" of specially interested individuals, whose chief concern is their own personal gain. It is hard to sea how any real musical advancement can be made under such circumstances, and t hose are the people who will eventually kill contesting altogether if allowed to have control of the associations. Yet there are many strong, true men—both teachers and taught—in the ranks of our British bandsmen, whose one desire is to see contesting—as a pastime—lifted above mere sordid commercial interests, and whose motto is: "Art for Art's sake." These are the men to whom we must look for measures of reform —such measures as will for ever place beyond the stigma of reproach the noble pastime of which v.e iu Britain havd been so proud.

We shall probably see in the clays to come more prizes given at band contests for good inarching and smart "' wheeling " when on parade (remarks a Home band journal). Bands generally now march much better than they did in August, 1914. It is sometimes necessary that bands should rehearse both the "slow' J and the "quick"' march, and turning movements, both with and without instruments, for nothing looks worse on parade than indecision in movement and men who play " out of step." Mr J. I. Ogden, » well-known and popular English Midlands bandmaster, died suddenly from heart disease early in December. Ho was fifty-six years o! age. Deceased left a widow and .1 family of eight, the eldest of whom, Charles Ogden, is solo cometist of the Welsh Fusiliers' Band, stationed at Rhyl. VULGAR TONE AND THE CLARINET. The following is a continuation of the article on " Vulgar Tone" by Bflat" in- Messrs Hawkos and Son's •" Musical Progress " : If it is at once admitted—us I 7irgue Bad believe—that it is the performer's skill that can alone preserve the musical reputation of even the chief of instruments —the violin—then, I say, by all means, transfer, when deserved, the charge of "vulgarity" from the Email clarinets to the performer. This is where tho responsibility should rest witk every orchestral instrument. A careless man, who will not take the trouble to study the "voicing" or tone-production of the acute clarinets. or a man with an ear that is naturally go defective that no amount of study would enable him to play one of these delicate instruments satisfactorily, should no longer be allowed to screen his incompetency behind an allegation of "inherent vulgarity of tone." The j game manifestations would be quite as apparent in a violin if handled as inDiiltrentJy. It is another illustration of tne adage as to a bad workman linaJBZ fault with his tools. It has been doubted whether, after all, man is a reasoning animal. Where bis prejudices are thoroughly aroused, the doubt has ample justification. No matter how divinely a man played «ipon one of the more acute tftlarinpts—'

prejudice, fashion and custom are. so powerful 'a'V'nc professional musicians that xhe performance would probably b© ridiculed by members of the orchestra whose own favourite instruments had inherent woikncsses of '• vulgarll, " far nmre pronounced. What strange. * in. onsistoitt., unreflecting creatures we are! One piece of common clay is promptly recognised as such; another, in no way superior, is—by following the blind and deaf guides of Custom and Prejudice—accepted as marble! Cultivating the faculty of analysis -would enable, musicians, both professional and amateur, to take out. the "mote" from their own instruments so as to see clearly how to take the "beam" from someone else's. Prejudice in musical matters is largely a result of letting others think for us. Win' should Ave accept, with a servile " amen" the various superstitions that cling, iike barnacles, to the sides of the good ship Musk;? In the preface to his "Gems of (treat Authors''' Tillotson says: "■'No man can, in the highest and' best sense of the expression, be said to think, who only thinks the thoughts of other-. Such a man, in the best. scn«e of the term, thinks not-—he only thinks ho thinks. As an example of exploded musical superstitions, let us rake the case of (ho small clarinet in E-flat. It is now quite common to hear this brilliant instrument- tho life and Mini of a military band—played with a beautiful tone, and faultless intonation. \et. until the last few years, tho charge of "vulgarity' 3 was levelled with special emphasis' against this member of the clarinet family. Tho altered opinion to-day is itself a proof of my contention that "vulgarity'" is a question uf performers, not instrumens. Now the C and D clarinets are at least as superior-- ■" all round" to tho instrument in .K-fhvt as a string orchestra is to military hand. Hence, f urge that the regular employment of small clarinets in C and D (and occasionally in E-natural and F) to brighten our grand orchestras—just as the soprano cornet is employed to enhance the brilliancy o): a brass band and tho E-lhu. clarinet is used to givo life, energy and " youthfulness" to our military orchestras. It is all a question of supply and demand, if one man will not try to artistically saddle and rein the refractory little clarinets-, another will. _ A violin is quite as had a ""' bucking horse" as'the scroamiest and shrillest member of the clarinet family: the violin rears and kicks and prances, hut earnest men " go for it." and bring its snorts and squeaks and rasping sounds into stern subjection and discipline. Still, after all their study, it is a debatable point in mv own mind whether the tone of a, well-played Cremona violm is so rich and pure as that of a clarinet in D; or even of a. wellhandled clarinet in C, At any rate, whether this opinion as to the relative merits of the violin and clarinet i* correct or not, there seems no valid musical reason why the C and D clarinets .should not. as above suggested, occupy exactly the samo relative position, and fulfil the same musical functions, in a grand orchestra, as the E-flat clarinet does in a military band, and the soprano comet does in a brass band.

In a previous number T .said that many good clarinet players affect to despise the instrument in ('-. and consequently do not practise upon it. I use the "word ''affect" advisedly, as I sometimes think that, a reaction is .slowly but surely sotting in. and that, with a little' encouragement- keep them in countenance—a number of players would willingly reinstate the instrument in ibe position awarded it by all the great masters. As mentioned in a recent letter, one of the most eminent of living clarinetists told me that his ideal of a clarinet (if it was mechanically possible; would be one in C with the capacity to reach iho lowest notes now given by the instrument in A.

An excellent clarinettist with whom I am acquainted has rather a dislike, to the instrument in A. If inquiry reuld be made it. would probably be found that this dislike is growing among clarinettists. I account for the tendency in this way. Suppressing the instrument in O has y>orforco led to a very extensive employment of the A clarinet, irrespective of the suitability or otherwise, of its special ''genius." This procedure is not only unfair to the suppressed instrument, but also fends to unduly discredit the clarinet in A. winch, like the contralto voice, is exceedinglv beautiful when employed within its legitimate---

but narrow —sphere. Like all other extremes, this forcing process will lead to the inevitable stage of reaction, and the C clarinet will, hi a fev: years. be restocod to its right ltd position In tho family, as second only (even if second "all round ") to tho B clarinet. To give an instance of the gradual development of opinion upon this <• clarinet Mtbjcc-t among cultivated amateurs. I would mention a gentleman who. besides phivint: the "cello very well, has a decided liking for tho clarinet. lie bought a set oi' three irsh'tmi"!'*': and prrutiscd a great deal- I did not say anyihing to him as to my notions, but. in course of conversation one day. he told me that ho preferred the C clarinet. Yot ] lO had an exf-eUen: A. and a genuine ''Albert" B-flnt.

To confirm the truth nf mv arguments mi fayon- of the theory thrtf. the inherent "vulgarity" of tone in the acute clarinets is quite as much within tlto control of the performer as is the inherent " vulearity " of tone in any other of the orchestral instruments, T would say ihat the most remarkable performance T ever heard on a clarinet was a solo, played on the E-flat instrument, by a bov ('Master Smiths at the Glasgow Exhibition. I was among a large and enthusiast)rrowrl who enjoyed the treat of hearing this clever hov nW the •• ('n,..,;,.,,! of Venice," with hrilliant and difficult variation?. I listened most attentively, but. there was not the. slightesttrace of "vulgarity" in either the tone, execution or infonation.