Regionals
Test-piece 2004
During September the
test-pieces for the Regional Contests of the Besson National Brass Band
Championships were announced. The piece that has been selected for the Third
Section contests is 'Vizcaya' by Gilbert Vinter.
A description of
this piece taken from the sleeve notes to the recording made by Fairey's in 1993
of this piece provides the following information:
'Vizcaya' in common
with some of Gilbert Vinter's "lighter" pieces, started life as an orchestral
work. His interest in the national music of other countries was with him all his
life and the MLO broadcast many of his works which were based on folk music from
around the world. Fête Basque (1966) was one of these, describing the atmosphere
of a festival in the Basque region of the South-West region of France. Vinter
used the piece as the basis of 'Vizcaya' arranging it the following year for
band whilst also adding a slow introduction based on two further Basque melodies
and altering the ending for the sake of musical completeness. It has to be said
that there are moments in the work when its orchestral origins have led to
unidiomatic brass writing, but it remains an intoxicating optimistic piece, full
of Mediterranean sunshine.
RAF
Innsworth
On 22nd
October the Band made a welcome return to RAF Innsworth to provide the musical
entertainment for a dining out night at the Sergeants Mess. The Band played a
programme of light music suitable to such an occassion including old favourites
such as 'Rock Around the Clock', 'The Enteratiner', 'Best of Bond', 'Georgia',
'Misty', 'Ground Force', 'The Floral Dance', etc. The programme also included
items inspired by the location such as the 'RAF March Past', 'Dambusters' and
'633 Squadron'. A good evening was had by all.
Mop
Fair
The annual mop fair
arrived in Tewkesbury on the 9th October. The Band led a procession of
Councillors and dignitaries from Gander Lane to The Cross to the sound of the
'March of the Cobblers'. Once at The Cross, the formal opening ceremony for the
mop fair was held and the fun and festivities commenced.
Band Room Improvements
During the Summer months Peter Williams and several other band members and their
families have been working in the background to improve our bandroom facilities.
In the past few weeks we have seen the completion of a dividing wall in the
larger part of the old rifle range creating a second room for the band.
Supplemented by proper lighting and heating (essential with winter approaching),
the additional room proves a great bonus for the training band teaching sessions
on a Friday evening. Needless to say, there is still plenty of work to do in
improving the bandroom facilities. However, a big thank you goes to all those
who have, to date, spent time and effort in improving the facilities for
everyone. Thank you.
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September
Young people in Training!
The Training Band has
been through a few changes over the summer and the results are already beginning
to show. All training band practises now take place in the main bandroom rather
than at the Town Hall. Not only is this easier for us, but allows the training
band to get a feel of what happens in the senior band. This also allows the
training band to have two rehearsals a week now on Fridays and Sundays (it also
mean that they can play football in the break!). Also new is the Beginners Band
that now meets on a Sunday. This gives the less experienced players a chance to
learn to play in a band from an early stage. The standard of playing from this
new band is amazing and they will definitely be performing in our sell-out
Christmas concert this year! For more details of the
Training Band why not have a look at
their page.
Burgers and Band!
Saturday 27th September saw the Band play at the Alderman Knight School BBQ. The
band played a selection of popular tunes and, of course, all the children's
favourites from over the years - from Tin Tin to Teddy Bears Picnic and from The
Ugly Duckling to Scooby Doo! A group of fine young conductors from the audience
led us in Thomas the Tank Engine and then the band could not help but follow the
beat of James Musto conducting Postman Pat - he's only 2½ years old but already
has the band under control! Much fun was had by all.
Christmas
Concert has sold out already!
That's right, it's only September, the tickets have only been on sale for a few
weeks but already they have all been sold!! This even beats last year's record
of October as a sell out date! The people of Tewkesbury obviously have good
taste and word must have spread about how our concerts are always such enjoyable
evenings! If you haven't managed to get a ticket then watch this space for news
of any extra concerts this year!
