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Re: Test Pieces

To: brass-band@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Test Pieces
From: Tim Morgan <tim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 7 Sep 1999 11:11:04 +0100
In-reply-to: <000301bef877$42d7fb00$03000004@colwyn1.freeserve.co.uk>
Priority: low
References: <000301bef877$42d7fb00$03000004@colwyn1.freeserve.co.uk>
Reply-to: brass-band@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In message <000301bef877$42d7fb00$03000004@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
David  Williams <JDW@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes
>We would
>listen for hours to "Life Divine", Eric Ball,s "Festival Music", etc.   I
>suppose these are fourth sections pieces now !

David,
     Yes, there are new test pieces being written all the time - this is
so the brass band movement can develop and move on.  It ensures that
there will always be young people willing and keen to become part of the
brass band movement.  I believe the composition of new music for band is
an absolute necessity.  And as far as contemporary music goes, the new
works for band are tame in comparison to some of the stuff which is
composed for orchestras nowadays.  I always said I was going to write a
test piece in the style of John Cage and call it 13'27"
     What you don't seem to realise, though, is that the older test
pieces are still being used in many major contests. In just the last 4
years, I have given contest performances of Pageantry (on two separate
occasions), Variations on a Ninth, Salute to Youth and Festival Music.
These were all at major, Championship section contests.  Two contests
that we didn't attend had Diadem of Gold and Epic Symphony as test
pieces.  Severn Suite was used at the Open just 3 years ago.  And as
recently as May this year, we played John Ireland's Comedy Overture at
the Grand Shield - the qualifier for the British Open (hardly 4th
section!)  Later this year, we intend to play Benvenuto Cellini at an
own choice contest.
	So while there is a lot of new music around, the fact is that
this bedrock of older music still exists, it is still extensively used,
and it goes together with the newer music to create a repertoire that we
should all be proud of, and one which must carry brass banding deep into
the future.

Tim
-- 
Tim Morgan, Bass Trombone, Woolley Pritchard Sovereign Brass.


--

References:
- Re: Test Pieces
  - From: David Williams

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