Issue no. 5534 – 8 November 2008 Price £1.25 Glen leads Belgian invasion Continental success at British Open Solos and Quartets BB 1.indd 1 04-11-2008 17:10:41 MAILBOX HAVE YOUR SAY WRITE TO THE EDITOR WITH YOUR POINT OF VIEW ON ANY BANDING SUBJECT Call to arms over BBC coverage Whatever happened to points? As brass bands on television and then radio have declined, with regular predictions of doom and It was great to read the report of the British Open in British Bandsman issue no. 5527 and gloom in our band media, I decided to write to the BBC about ten years ago to request a return congratulations to Foden’s on its victory. of bands to BBC television. I wrote two or three letters each year either via my MP or directly to Just one thing was missing from the report, which tended to spoil the whole thing – the the BBC. The responses were always the same and were along the lines of ‘we take brass bands number of points scored by each band. I feel that the judges must have made a list, otherwise seriously, but not this year.’ how is the winner decided? This information would also help to fully analyse the results. This year, with a mini-revival in interest, I decided that, rather than waste further time and Could you please ensure that the points scored are shown for any future competitions (all money on postage for twice-annual letters, I would write constantly for a year to the BBC, sections)? I look forward to receiving your confi rmation that this will be the case. mostly via my MP, which requires a reply from the Director General, making the pro-forma G. Moses print-outs more diffi cult to justify. I also asked many bandspeople to write to their MPs and Leeds I wrote to MPs that had famous bands in their constituencies. The theme of all letters was the return of our fi nest bands to television. Petitions such as that of 1998 are pointless, as a Editor: We always publish the full details of contest results when they are made available to us, document with 2,000 names on it can be dealt with by one section of the BBC and it takes a including points, order of draw and conductors. In the case of the British Open, the last time points short time to type out a letter for the DG.s signature politely saying ‘go away’. were awarded to all competing bands was in 1995, with only the points awarded to the top six Sadly, many of the persons I asked to write seemed uneasy about writing to the BBC. I bands announced from 1996 to 1998, after which they were withdrawn completely. The recent wondered if I was inadvertently asking them to write to the KGB, rather than the publicly- announcement that they are also to be withdrawn from the National Brass Band Championships funded (by us) broadcaster, whose editorial and cultural sectors are unregulated (I quote the of Great Britain is indicative of the growing trend throughout banding that will surely end with the BBC Trust). My own MP, Sir John Stanley, had been a great help and two other MPs, Lady Ann virtual abolition of points at all band contests at some time in the not-too-distant future. While Winterton who represents the Foden’s constituency and Ann Widdecombe of Maidstone, were there will be those who will lament their passing, anything that eases the task of the judges and most helpful. Apart from that, MPs said that their constituents must write to them directly contest controllers is surely to be welcomed. before they could act. With the BBC, we are dealing with public servants who have good salaries and pensions but hide behind a veil of secrecy. Who knows how controllers and offi cials are appointed and what their personal likes and political leanings that aff ect us all are? If a controller and their staff Call for Christmas review don’t like brass bands, then they will not give them air time, and who is going make them change their minds? They can eff ectively do as they like with our money. Please, please, please review your policy of publishing a Christmas Music edition of British The only way we will get action is for hundreds of bands people to write to their MPs, Bandsman every year. The inclusion of all the reviews, most of which had adverts to go with demanding (not requesting) that, as shareholders and therefore the owners of the BBC, they them, meant that this year’s edition had only four pages of real news. I appreciate that BB want a fair share of air-time. They do not want enormous sum the BBC pays to Anne Robinson provides a service to bands with this edition, but there are those of us who would rather read and Jonathan Ross, nor the £19,000,000 spent on orchestral and other music, but they want our about the goings on in the banding world that we get every other week than what our local fi nest bands on BBC television on a regular and on-going basis. They also want our fi nest bands band might or might not be playing at its Christmas concert in two months time. Wouldn’t it be to be paid a decent rate of pay, not the miserable sums at present tossed at our bands when possible to stagger the Christmas music reviews throughout the year? persons unknown to us decide they want a half-hour radio broadcast for Listen to the Band. T. Robertson The BBC is examining itself at this moment, so a massed campaign of letter-writing, demanding Bristol action could be the brass band community’s last chance. Remember - if you are being bullied (by the BBC), the bully will not stop if you are nice to him, he will only stop if you stand up to Editor: We appreciate that the content of the Christmas Music edition may not be to every reader’s him. taste and will take the thoughts of Mr. Robertson, and other telephone correspondents, forward David Johnson to our next planning meeting, in the hope that our strategy for next year will be more universally Tonbridge, Kent popular with BB readers. East Anglian pride Way back in 1945, the commanding offi cer of the local Salvation Army Corps at the time (Captain Gwen Tribbeck) decided to form a band comprising ten small boys. No one could have ever imagined that, one day in the far-distant future, a Norwich Mile Cross bandsman in, the shape of 19 year-old Christopher House, would become an appointed member of The International Staff Band of The Salvation Army. Now, for a small band of 15, that is something! Trevor Middleton Norwich BRITISH BANDSMAN PAGE 2 BB 2-3.indd 2 04-11-2008 18:01:08 NEWS Winter wonderland as Manger captures Siddis title in style Siddis Brass, Norway’s premier entertainment championship, held in one of this year’s European Capitals of Culture, Stavanger, was won last weekend by Manger Musikklag, under the baton of English trumpet virtuoso, Martin Winter, who also composed the band’s winning programme. Central Park Suite comprised four movements – The Great Lawn, The Woodman Rink, The Ghosts of Central Park West and The Delacorte Theatre – and the band’s performance was, in the opinion of Jens T. Larsen and Hannes Buchegger, enough to score a clear victory over traditional rivals, Eikanger-Bjørsvik and Stavanger. In the Lower Sections, victories went to Kleppe Musikklag under Russell Gray, Hornorkesteret Stavanger and Fjell Brass. Speaking to BB on behalf of the organisers, Reidar Værnes commented: “Last year, we celebrated our 25th anniversary with a record 51 bands across four sections in one day, but it didn’t stop there. This year we had 53 and had to turn some away as we are full up!” Any readers interested in visiting Stavanger for next year’s Siddis Brass should note that it will be held on 7 November. The full results were: Elite Division 1. Manger Musikklag (M. Winter) 96 (music) + 10 (programme) = 106 2. Eikanger-Bjørsvik (R. Gilje) 95 + 9 (-1) = 103 3. Stavanger (A. Withington) 94 + 9 = 103 4. Krohnengen (K.O. Midtbø) 91 + 8 = 99 5. Jaren Hornmusikkforening (J.T. Svendsen) 90 + 8 = 98 6. Oslo Brass Band (F. Amundsen) 89 + 8 = 97 7. Oslofjord Brass (J.P. Hannevik) 88 + 8 = 96 8. Ila Brass (T. Rimul) 88 + 6 = 94 Co-op sweeps the Barnardo’s launches 9. Tomra Brass (M. Antrobus) 86 + 7 (-1) = 92 Best Soloist: Erlend Vetås Aagaard Nilsen, cornet, Manger boards at Malton Brass Appeal Musikklag Adjudicators: Jens T. Larsen and Hannes Buchegger Malton Brass ’08 was held last Sunday (2nd) at the Milton On Sunday 16 November, there will be three opportunities Rooms, Malton, where Yorkshire Co-op Band scored a to hear two of the leading soloists from Black Dyke Band, as 1st Divisjon convincing victory, also taking home a clutch of other awards. Barnardo’s Brass Appeal gets underway. Richard Marshall 1. Kleppe Musikklag (R. Gray) 94 + 10 = 104 The full results were: (cornet) and David Thornton (euphonium) will perform with 2. Sola Brass (S. Simonsen) 93 + 10 = 103 Becontree Brass Band and the Abbs Cross School Wind Band Class ‘A’ 3. Sørum Musikklag (C. Tenfjord) 93 + 9 = 102 at Barnardo’s Church in Barkingside, before they separate and 1. Yorkshire Co-op 187 4.