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Re: Contesting

To: brass-band@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Contesting
From: BigChap27@xxxxxxx
Date: Thu, 8 Apr 1999 18:23:02 EDT
Priority: low
Reply-to: brass-band@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In a message dated 08/04/99 22:04:00 GMT Daylight Time, 
citymusic@xxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:

<< >I have an even better idea.  Abolish all contests.  They stifle 
creativity;
 >they prove absolutely nothing, because any adjudication in a brass band
 >contest is necessarily subjective; they have restricted the repertoire;
 they
 >have restricted the instrumentation;  they have hindered brass bands in
 >gaining respectability and credibility as a musical medium;  in 99% of
 cases
 >they cost the competing band money;  they are of absolutely no interest or
 >consequence to anyone outside of those directly or closely linked with
 brass
 >bands; in short, contests have held brass bands back from the day they were
 >invented. They are utterly futile. >>
This is one point of view. We could cancel all contests tomorrow. Then what 
are we left with? In the case of my band, 1 or 2 good concerts a year, one of 
which will be a 'Last Night Of the Proms' stock full of that progressive 
stuff like 'Jerusalem' and 'Land of Hope & Glory' and the other will borrow 
heavily from the soundtrack of 'Brassed Off'. The rest of our schedule will 
consist of 7 or 8 park jobs in the parks of Coventry and North Warwickshire 
and 1 or 2 half empty churches and church halls. If we play new or 
progressive music at any of those, the audience will amuse themselves until 
we play Hetty Wainthrop or the theme from 'Ground Force'. We are a 
subscription band so can not afford to commission Messrs Wilby, Ellerby or 
Sparke to write for us. As we are not invited (yet) to a wonderful festivals 
like Pershore Midsummer Brass we will not see, or be able to socialise with 
any of our other friends from the Brass band Movement( I am one of those 
heretics who consider the 'Abercrombie', 'Queen's Mews' 'Red (or is it Black) 
Cow (Masters)'  & any Bar at Pontins to be an essential part of my brass band 
year). 
I then have to ask myself, what are we left with and the answer is precious 
little. The recent correspondence relating to the mail list gathering at the 
Aussie nationals illustrates the importance of contesting. Without 
competition, our movement would die. Various disparate forces withering on 
the vine. Our love of competition is not in any way responsible for the 
partial decline of our movement (surely synchronised swimming is a far sadder 
competition). There is always a place for a well planned concert (the Brass 
Band Explosion series in Birmingham being a tribute to Richard Adams and 
Brian Allen), just as there is a place for a good contest (Faireys playing 
Masquerade at the Open and Dyke playing Cloudcatcher at the Nationals in 85 
being performances that I will always treasure). 
Let us surely stand back and say that for our movement to prosper, the 
richness of both disciplines must remain.


Martyn Pattinson
Formerly 2nd now Bass Trombone
Bedrock brass


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