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Re: Enjoying Contests (long)

Cameron Mabon wrote:
> However, I was referring to
> the whole brass band movement when I was talking about it being
> evolutionarily stable. 
...
> As long as more people like contests than don't, and as
> long as more people like
> what they hear at contests than don't, then contesting will survive. 

As a bird living in a tree (for example), to make the best music I want
the best environment to enable me to do that. In the contest tree I will
sing like all the other birds. In the bandstand tree I'll sing marches
and Floral Dance the best. In the third tree I would find lots of
different birds making wonderful music in fresh and individual ways. 

The contest tree has free chocolate ego bars so is popular. The
bandstand tree is often used in the summer to raise a bit of money to
buy extra chocolate. And unfortunately the third tree is mostly in the
shade with no chocolate.

> the varieties of band that included French Horns (or other
> peculiarities) were found wanting compared to what is now considered to be
> the standard brass band. Since no new brass instrument has been invented
> recently (with the exception of silly things like flumpets), there is no
> alternative variety to challenge the evolutionary supremacy of the
> traditional brass band. 

Tools do jobs. The trad. band might have been good 100 years ago, but
the jobs of today are different (see music changing in my last post) and
so a different tool *might* do it better. The french horn might be the
shuttle to bring us into the space age. If it is pants then fair enough.
But should we not try it out?

The fact is you can't try it out because banding is about contesting
which doesn't allow french horns. So the only way it might get a foot in
the door would be if a top band did some concerts with some. Unlikely
perhaps for a number of reasons. But you have to admit, such variation
is rather stultified in banding.

I'm not questioning whether banding is about to die. Of course not, but
I am a little worried about the huge emphasis that is put on contesting
and where it leaves us musically. I want to see more of festivals,
commissions, interesting interpretations, music not rated on how
challenging it is technically or even pats on the backs of bands from
the federations for playing great music. Any other ideas or thoughts?

Respectfully,

Dave

-- 
David Read			     Queens' College
dtr20@xxxxxxxxx		      Cambridge CB3 9ET


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