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Who are we kidding? (was Brass Band Groan List)

Hi Everyone

Excuse me while I climb up onto my soap box.

I've been following the thread, for the past few days, about who
likes or dislikes playing which pieces of popular music. I have
been quite surprised by how big the list is becoming. I would
be one of the first to admit that there are some very poor arrangements
of popular pieces (Arrangers take note) but not wanting to play
something just because we don't like it is silly.

There are not that many Brass Bands, especially in Australia, that
do not depend on the generosity of the paying public for survival.
This public is now accustomed to a wide range of entertainment, both
style and technology. As a result of this great range of entertainment
we should feel flattered that they choose ( YES CHOOSE ) to come and
listen to us. For us, as entertainers, to continue to encourage the
public to support us we must play the sort of music they want to hear.

I believe the need for "serious" competition between Brass Bands
is still important. I am quite happy to see this sort of competition
continue. It is important for Brass Bands to improve and one way
to do this is through competition. We must ask ourselves what sort
of public support, in particular financial support, do these competitions
get. I would have to say, at least in Australia, very little. These
events struggle to survive and I believe any Band that runs a formal
contest is taking on a great financial risk. 

In an attempt to improve the image of Brass Bands, and to try and make
some money, Entertainment Contests have become popular. These contests
allow Brass Bands to appeal to the general public. In these contests
we no longer have the limitations of formal contests placed on us
and we can really entertain the paying public while still competing.

One step further, from Entertainment Contests, must be the Entertainment
Concert. At these concerts we can really have a go and try and draw
a crowd. Sure there are true fans of Brass Music who will turn up
and listen to a Brass Band. The difficult thing is to attract the 
general public who just want good entertainment and really don't
care about the fine technical points of playing the music.

All that said we must consider the sort of music we choose to entertain
the public with. Much of the music we get to play are arrangements
of popular pieces performed by other artists or pieces from Stage Shows
and Films. Some of this music is very good, when performed in it's
original form, and should make the transition to a Brass arrangement.
There are some excellent arrangements that still manage to feature
challenging parts for a single instrument or section in the Band. An
example is the Soprano Cornet solo for "Memory" from Cats.

There are also a number of popular pieces that are not adaptations, nor
are they the sort of piece you would find being used at a Brass Band
competition. These pieces are well written entertaining pieces and
often appear in the repertoire of an entertaining Band. Examples of
this include "Friends for Life" and "Variazioni in Blue".

I believe that just because a certain piece of music does not include 
a difficult or challenging piece for the particular instrument we
choose to play we shouldn't dismiss the piece of music. I happen to play
a BBb Bass and it is not hard to count the number of interesting
parts, in popular Brass music, for BBb Bass. That doesn't mean that
I do not enjoy the parts I get to play. I do enjoy them as I can see,
and hear, where the part fits with the overall band sound. This, of
course, assumes the arranger has done a good job. (Again take note
Arrangers)

For the Brass Band movement to financially survive, and let's face
it Brass instruments are not cheap, we must give the paying public
what they want. It seems that people will pay to see a great Band
play contest material. But how many Bands fall into the "great" category?
There are many good Brass Bands that can play very entertaining
programs, often based on much the paying public knows. I believe
it is this sort of music that will keep the paying public coming
back.

My final comment is this. Are we out to prove what clever little
players we are, because we can play a difficult technical piece,
or are we here to survive into the next Millennium?

Now I climb back down from my soap box.

Kind Regards

Richard Luckhurst
BBb Bass
Narrabri Shire Band & Tamworth RSL and Citizens Bands.


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