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Re: Australian Nationals

On Wed, 2 Apr 1997, Justin Rouillon wrote:

Note-this may get a little tangent at times so please bear with me :)

>	 Hello all,
> 
>		 On the subject of the onstage march; do we really need it?

In my opinion, yes. The march is a unique type of music and to lose it
would be a shame.

> It seems to me that if we are trying to present brass bands as a
> contemporary art form, we should focus on relevant music.  

And how do we define relevant? Why does the brass band need to be defined
as a contemporary art form when its roots are far from contemporary? Look
at the symphonic orchestera-while today's modern orchestras are full of
insturments Beetohven, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky never dreamed of, their
music is what endures. 

The problem with "contemporary" and "relevnt" is that it doesn't take into
account the very best thing about all good music (marches or no)-All good
music will endure. Rimmer will endure as will Sparke. Why? Because they
wrote/write good music. 

To my mind,
> marches are what the sterotypical brass band plays; and not what the modern
> brass band does. 

And what pray tell is the modern brass band? Seems like the brass band as
we know it hasn't changed too terribly much over the past couple decades.
The best brass bands in the world still retain marches as part of their
repertoire.

BDM put out a CD full of the best marches just a few short years ago. BNFL
still puts marches on their commercial CD's. Now, these may be what you
consider "stereotypical" brass bands but they are who the people want to
come see.

 I am not saying get rid of marches completely, just that
> they should be played only where necessary: ie the parade of bands.

Sorry, but I feel marches still belong on stage with the concert and
contest repertoire of bands. If a band chooses to forego a march, that's
their choice. But if we see a large movement to drop the march from
standard repertoire I feel we will see the quality of bands drop overall.

>	 On top of this, bands have enough work to do with their hymn, test
> and own choice peice.

If a band doesn't feel they can handle a march for contest, that's their
perogative. IMHO however, the most enjoyable sets include a march along
with the hymn, test, and choice pieces. Perhaps bands should be wiser in
choosing their own choice piece?

I'll be the first to admit I'm new enough to not know much about the
history of the brass band. I do feel though that to drop the march from
the standard repertoire of a band would be a great loss to the audience
and to the musicians-I enjoy playing a well written march (but boy do the
bad ones stink! :)

Respectfully,
Matt LaFontaine

The All Star Brass and Percussion
 Solo Baritone


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