THE BAND CONTEST.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11445, 30 December 1904, Page 7

THE BAND CONTEST.

T.Y.M.L SCORE A DOUBLE WIN.

The Band Contest held on Cook'u Gardens yesterday afternoon nmsfc be writton down a huge success. As the afternoon wore on the clouds cleared away and iho sun shone out brilliantly. .The aeenc on th.6 hillside was a very- pretty one, the elopes being crowded with tier after ti?r of spectators, of whom there must havo beea nearly 4000 present. The takings for th£ afternoon amounted to <£157. • :: WALTZ CONTEST.

As stated in .last evening's issue, th?

Woltz Contest was the first ' item on tho programme. There, were fivs contestants, the •Manc|wst?r Riiu-s- sand li^n- »- tired. - . ' Hawe£& led off, "playing that pretty pomposition K jLea Fieurs d'Ausfralfc." Iheiutcoductioii opened nicely. The quarte'tt? was fairly well balanced, and playod wcU to the CUd. As the Band, played on, however, they did not maintain the' «uno goo<l standard as displayed in the opening. When the coda was reached,- nearly tho whole Band appeared to be lip tired, and therefore did not finish well. s T.Y.M.I. played "Tales of Long .Ago." This waltz gives opportunity for very delicate treatment. The Band were not cjuite sure in the openings but improved vary much, and gave a very good rendering of the introduction as" a' whole. Tempo til vaJae sustained passages held out. Tlwea few bars-Jrtade a nice preparation fpr figure No. 1, winch was we'll played throughout, excepting the euphonium was slightly out of tune in places. Emphagis marks" %vers attended to and not overdoiiei ,*fo.rf2 well played, except that the Band were not together in places, and not close in tun-e. No. 3. — This movement roquircs very fin-3 playing, and 'the way it was treated by the performers left little **>' be "desired, though the crescendos and diminuendos might have been better attended to. Figure "4. — Intonation suffered iv the opening to some extent, but taken as & whole was wc-11 played. Coda.— --Minims not well done, baritone and eupkoninm not <>loso in tune; inner parts well played. Talwn as a whole/ this Band no doubt gave the most 1 level performance in the -waltz competition. Marton, who played "Irene;" followed. Faulty intonation was very notttfeable. The Band did not play "well together, and the .balance was not good!' The performance as a whole was rather disappointing. Feilding.— This Band played '''The Kose of England."* Opening taken much too fast. , Passages at bars 13, . 14, ■ and 15 wore not together, and the ' rallentando was too much drawn, out. Andantino.r- 1 - This^was, taken, much too .slow," and the horns were not always in tune in the duet. ' Cornet cadenza nicely played, -excepting for slight slip at beginning. Tempo di raise' was. not taken up to time. No. 1, first strain was well played. The Band <yot rather strident in the second strain of this figure, but the euphonium played his staccato passages -eery distinct arid with taste. No. 2 opened v?oll; bars 6 and 7 grace notes played too short by soprano, also bar. 13. Second strain, Band yfas rather

boisterous, and emphasis very' much over- , done. No. 3. — This figure opened splendid* ly, cornet playing with great 'taste, and Supported by .whole Band until cres. was reached, vhenibey.g<Jfca"?*^ eacl ' <JSS ' and marred the effect of these four bars. Second strain.— Bass solo well played, except that emphasis again* overdone, and dotted minima were not sufficiently held out for the brbsid-eff-ecfc necessfarjr- to this moVjC*' ment. Trombones played much too loxid. Ko. 4 opened well until bar 21 was reached, % wn«n tie Band wen^Bo'mewhat trough "in tone, and the emphasis marks were much overdone, also- at 29, 30, 31, aud-32. This figure „-was otherwise 'well "played. Coda, was w«U played, t&Knsgßouf:,". except 'tnati the Bdiid played rathei* " Bttident in) ;th_e ! forte passages. On the wh.ole this was a good performance, ftnd had4t .nojt been for the defects mentioned ' Feilding wbuld no , doubt |iave gained more '.ntarks' for ,t, t their playing throughout. Their phrasing was Hot always correct, but they have every reason to feel satisfied with,, their- perfoTm-

aace. „ , Stratford followed with "Myrine," giving a rathfer tamo rendering. This Band ppdseasds some good material, and with more contest experience will no doubt improve their position in the inu9ical world. The chief faults in this combination were in tone, time, and precision, especially the last. "The Band gave the listener an im- , precision, that they wf>r« over cautious, and ( therefore made their rendering stiff. This ' Band was practically re-formed only a few months' ago. and Mr Lawn, their energetic conductor^ deserves gxeab, predit. for, l)ring- v , ing them on so well as he has. THE MATCHING COj^E-TITION. After- the, Waltz Competition, concluded, j the Marchiug .Contest,, tjie chief event of the afternoon, was proceeded with. The draw for places gave" the lea& : to Marton,' | - who stepped off to the ostraina of "The Western Bocnm" Their matching -was steady and even, but the effect, was spoiled by faulty dressing, though the intervals were well preserved.. Their cpunteiyinarchjfag and turning were -f airly 'done 1 , and the wheel was very good, though it was followed by a shaky halt. Hawera, playing "The Colonel's Parade," followed, putting up- a very creditable" performance. Their marching though, lacking life, W2i3 steady," the dressing wa£ gfeM the; intervals' correctly kept, and the- ccpintermarch was well done. They/ turned* and wheeled in really good stytej and made the -fc^sfc halt qf the lot. The next to line up was the Stratford Band, who, played "The Southern Cross." Like all the- other, bands, they marched, very steadily, but while v the, intervals were good, the drea3ing was rather vpoor," and the same remark applies j to their turning. The counter-marching aild wheeling were well done, bujx-the halt was>bit unsteady» T.Y.M.I. followed, play-. ihgi^Besses o1o 1 the Barn," and stepped off in. a lively spirited manner that showed they meant business. They kept perhaps the~ best 1 dressing of all^ but the intervals WOW badly kept.- -The counter-marching, wheeling .and turning, were dove very well indeed, but the halt was a very .shaky one/ On' the whole it was a very good performance. The last band to line up was Feilding, who -played ."Sandhurst," .and it Soon became evident, that as far ac military' points weie concerned, they were going to give <a good exhibition. Thpir marching -wa^done steadily, yet -witlu plenty of life, and' though th> dressing-^ a? not so good as T.Y.IV&L and Hawera; the intervals -Were' very well kept. '. They did the, beat counter-march of the day, aud though, like the ' others, - their halt was lacking in steadiness; the turning and wheeling were really excellent. Following are notes-'on the 'march music : — Martoh led off, 'playing "The Western Boom." They did not appear to be happy in their choice, the music being evidently too heavy for them,- especially j the cornet, who appeared to be lip-worn almost from the start, , Hawera followed ! with The Colonel's Parade." This was a j somewhat ragged performance. ,antl cvi- 1 dently beyond the band's marching capabilities; Some parts, however, were well played, T>ut left much to J be desired from a musical " standpoint. Stratford played "The Southern Cross." Tliis was tbe most evenly balanced - band in. the marching

competition. Tiio inner parts were well brought onl, the precision was good, tho forte' work was not overdone, whilst the marks of ejspv&ssioM generally were well attended to, but this band suffered to some extent through faxilty intonation. T.Y.M.I. played '"Besses <>' the Barn." This is ; no doubt the most ' difficult march played during the day, and whilst there Are re faults to be found with tne band's playi)ig, .they showed th.} best all-round form, their tone heine in advance of the other contestants. The trombones wove much too prominent at times, and the broade,(f notes in the inufiie were not sufficiently hold out. The worst feature of this baud was the second cornet, who- blew much too hard, and, $tood out above his section. On the whole, this was no doubt the most satisfactory performance in the maich music. Feildlng- played "'Sandhurst." This jt not a difficult mar oh. The band started Off W<3ll\;fr u ,C ■(lid- not maintain a. g-oocl standard of playing. The music was nok well balanced, and suffered from" faulty intonation to some considerable, extent. The trombone section were not.tno happy in then parts, but the basses, however, showed better form. The cornet section soon tired, , the day's playing evidently proving a severe task for them. Taking this performance as a whole, ,it was very fair, bnt the nuances did not receive any attention. c

This concluded the contest, and thc-.c-was then a short wait for the judges' decision, which, the knowing on«s predicted would be betwetffc T.Y.M.I. and Feildmsf. and iso it proved. Tho Marshal, Captain Swan, then announced" the result as follows: —

WALTZ CONTEST.

Points. T.Y.M.I 85 Feilding ...* '83 Hawera .-. -.?...-.....:.... 7o Marton 73 Stratford 70

I3UBIIWU I VI . ■*-* -V Needless to Bay, T.Y.M.I.'s doijbl© win was warmly receiwd. The bands wove thea massed, and after the presentation of prizes by the Mayoress, Mr 9A. G. Bignell, the whole of the bands played the inarch "Garrison," under the cjonductorship of the judge, Mr Jas. Orichton. This concluded, the contest.

From a musical point of view, the boateat was, on the whole, a very successful one, '' and . any blemishos' in - the performances by the different' bands will probably soon disappear, while the experience gained should l)e of m'ucii value to all concerned in view of future contests. The judge. Ay Jas , Crichton, is to be complimented on the way in which he performed his duties, and the fact that the music played was the bands' own choice made his task a very difficult one. aiid wade the 'comparison of the bands' abilities rather a hard matter. There were not prizes for all, and naturally some we:e disappointed, but -aking the performances right through there cannot bo. any doubt as to the soundness of Mr Crichton's de« i cisions. - '/ ; ' '.' After the bands were- dismissed, an exhibition of "poi" was given ,by three teau:s of Maori girls, all dressed in white. Many new figures were introduced, and tne exhibition vrae a very pretty one, and thoroughly appreciated ,by the spectators. Amusement was caused -by the antic 3of th© I "conductor" of one of 1 the teams, whose war whoop of "Cake Walk" fairly "brought dov/n the Hottse." The thifd"teanY~of "eiglif i tiny giils went through their exorcises ! splendidly, their novel, finish, in which all , lay down in a long linb, being very offecI tive. Two girls also gave a really nnc dis- | play of -double-handed poi. j '•- ""The officials - managing the contest • are to.' b 6 Complimented on • the promptitude which they displayed in getting through the programme. There were no long waits, and everything went smoothly, which n>at&rially added to th© afternoon's enjoyment. •

T.Y.W.I > Feilding Hawera .....' Marton 'Music 75 61? 60 6% Military Points 75} 81 75JTotal 113£ Ul 1404 15V»4

MARCHING CONTEST.