BESSES-O'-TH'-BARN BAND.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 5409, 17 October 1906, Page 4

BESSES-O'-TH'-BARN BAND.

A HEARTY RECEPTION IN v AMERICA. The Besses-o'-th'-Barn Band has had quite a triumphal march across the American continent on its way to New Zealand, afid it has giv^en the. Exhibition a iplenduf advertisement in the United States. It played to very large audiences in the Zoological Gardens at Cincinnati. Several important dinner parties were given in the Gardens at the time. Among the guests at one of the parties was Mrs Nicholas Longworth, daughter of President Roosevelt. In her honor the band played as an extra selection and the opening number a march written by Mr A. Owen, the Conductor, entitled ' Roosevelt/ and dedicated .t,o : the president. Mr Owen is an-, admirer of the President, and on the vessel reaching Ameri^

ea finished the march, which he had begun on leaving England. The band' created much enthusiasm amongst its American audiences by the mariner inwhich it played' 'The Star-spangled Banner.' An American journal says : — ' In the band's work, there is a sweetness of tone, a sharpness of attack, a volume of sound, and a precision of marking that is wonderful, and that reflects great credit on the band as an organisation, and on the leader, Mr A. Owen, who one can see is a musician through and through, albiet quite unassuming and straightforward. In his conducting, he is active and energetic, but there is nothing put on and nothing overdrawn in his motions. Some notable selections were played by the band. Without taking them' in detail, mention may more properly be made of the grand selection from ' Faust,' in which this great work of Berlioz is given a sympathetic and a very animated rendition by the Besses. After hearing .the, productions played as the Besses -play them one can readily understand bow President Loubet could be perfectly candid and sincere when he said, in a little address to the band, when it accompanied King Edward on his visit to France. Your performance is superb, and could not be excelled by any band in France — it is magnificent.'