A rollercoaster year of competition

BandNotes

Beaumaris Band Newsletter Winter 2012

Success at the seaside

Beaumaris Youth Band win at the North Wales Rally again!
It's fair to say that there have been a lot of changes in the Youth Band over the last few months with new faces arriving and older faces bidding a farewell. Quite a few of the band's older members left to start their student lives at various Colleges and Universities leaving behind a fair few empty seats!
competition, some of the senior members members had played with Beaumaris Band at the National Championships of Great Britain in the Royal Albert Hall. It's also worth noting that Beaumaris Youth Band has something of a reputation at the North Wales Rally having won the competition for the previous ve years so there wasn't much pressure on the new recruits!

The rst ever appearance of the Band at the British Open; the most competitive and prestigious contest of the banding calendar was a historic and momentous experience for everyone associated with Beaumaris Band Playing the extremely difcult new set work Electra' by Martin Ellerby, the Band gave a fantastic performance from the dreaded no.1 draw - the third time this year the band have been drawn to compete in the opening slot. The technical challenges of the rst movement were competently overcome, followed by another expertly crafted slow movement by Musical Director, Gwyn Evans, highlighting some sublime soloist and duet work from Gavin Saynor, Bethan Evans, Owen Davies, Wil Marston, Jos Harris, Glenn Van Looy, Sarah Kingman, Paul Hughes, Nick Hughes, Bronwen Evans and Chris Williams. Despite great condence within the band following the performance, as well as many of the pundits in the audience and the bar feeling that Beaumrais could very well return home with a prize in the top 10, there was great disappointment when the results were announced and the band placed 13th. This is still a creditable result, but one which was met with some shock and disappointment, with the general feeling being that the no.1 draw was a negative factor in the overall results. And so, a few weeks later, it was on to the Royal Albert Hall and the second successive appearance for the Band at the National Championships of Great Britain. Unfortunately, after weeks of hard work and hours of rehearsals-the band returned from this year's prestigious competition a little disheartened to say the least. The test piece was Ravels beautiful but extremely difcult composition, Daphnis & Chloe, arranged by Howard Snell.

The piece was originally written for an orchestra and the challenge was to create the sounds intented by the composer, but also, to stay true to our brass band musical roots. This time, the draw was more favourable and after hearing that the band were drawn at no.9 of 20 bands, the players had plenty of time to relax and gather their thoughts before the performance. Some enjoyed a little retail therapy, while others relaxed in the hotel lounge with copious amounts of tea and coffee. The performance went well and Gwyn appeared to be enjoying himself once again on stage as the music took hold and individual praise should be given to the three main soloists of the day: Bari Gwilliam, Bronwen Evans and Chris Williams, who performed exceptionally and added something special to the overall performance. Feeling relatively relaxed after coming off stage, the players were hopeful of a top 10 placing once again this year. But on announcement of the results, there was a gasp of disbelief on hearing that Black Dyke Band were placed 9th. This didnt look good and that feeling was justied when Beaumaris was placed 11th . The players were more disappointed than usual but its now time to move on and look forward to the challenges that lie ahead in 2013. Beaumaris Bands presence at the National Finals of Great Britain for the past two years has been a very special time in the history of the Band and has given everyone condence in their ability to hopefully perform there once again in the not too distant future.

As a consequence, several members were promoted from the Intermediate Band to ll the spare So we have to pay tribute to Nick seats whilst some current who took on the challenge with members were promoted within the vigour. band. The hard work, the extra Having come together after the rehearsals, the sweating, the summer holidays, the Youth band's fretting not to mention the conductor, Nick Hughes, faced the blowing (yes, percussionits, and daunting challenge of getting what the hitting too!) was all was, in effect, a new band ready worthwhile as Beaumaris were for the North Wales Rally. placed in the rst position.

It is quite a challenge to prepare any band for a competition, however, the challenge facing Nick is probably best appreciated when one considers the breadth of experience within his "new" band. Whilst some of the younger band members had never previously competed in any Brass Band

As well as winning the Best Hymn and the Overall Prize, solo cornet player, Sacheus Pritchard, also won the Best Soloist prize. With the mixture of new blood and experienced players Beaumaris Youth Band continues to provide an excellent education for our young musicians.

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A Note from Fred

"The town of Beaumaris and county of Anglesey can proudly boast a brass band which is now amongst the very best in the world"
It's been an incredibly busy few months for Beaumaris Band since our summer concert and we have now reached that busiest time of year for any brass band - Christmas Carol time! As you can see from the front page, the Senior Band have had an extremely busy few months competing at the Royal Albert Hall and making their debut appearance at the British Open. Earlier in the year, the Band were ranked ninth in the world rankings released by Brass Band World Magazine - quite an achievement for a town the size of Beaumaris! And although results didn't always go their way it goes to show how competitive life is at the pinacle of Brass Band competitions. The town of Beaumaris and county of Anglesey can proudly boast a brass band which is now amongst the very best in the world. What is even more pleasing to see is the number of players competing in the Royal Albert Hall and the Birmingham Symphony Hall who had progressed through our Youth Bands. And the tradition continues as we saw so many younger members making the step up from the Intermediate Band to the Youth Band this year and, combining with the older more experienced members they came home from Llandudno with the North Wales title for the sixth successive year! The most "senior" band in our band family, the Last of the Summer Wind, continues to grow and go from strength to strength too. There are now 46 members who come along every Wednesday night to blow their instruments and to have some fun. And that it what it's all about - the enjoyment of playing music. Once again this year I would like to thank all the members, families an friends of Beaumaris Band who have given so much over the year to help our various concerts, events and fundraising efforts. Without you, there would be no band Thank you very much. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas!

So, where are the trumpets?

Explaining the wierd and wonderful world of Brass Bands
Before my son (and then daughter) started playing with the Beaumaris Brass Band I didn't have the slightest idea about the wierd and wonderful world of Brass Bands. I wasn't aware of the history and traditions of brass banding but all of a sudden I had to get to grips with this new vocabulary; what is a Flugel Horn, why is there more than one Solo Cornet, who are the scruffy guys standing behind the band and where on earth are the trumpets? Of course, before too long Fred had thrust a cornet in my hand and stuck me in the back row cornet section of the LSW where I had to start learning about this strange new world! So for those parents and friends who, like me, struggled to understand the new lingo, here is my Idiot's Guide to Banding. Firstly Brass Bands by their very nature are made up of musicians who play brass instruments apart from the percussionists who some might say weren't musicians but then, being the father of a percussionist, I have to admit to them being an extremely musical bunch! Sat on the left hand side of the band are the cornets. Brass Bands don't have trumpet players; trumpets are found in an orchestra, brass bands have cornet players. The Cornet section are split into various "families" but they all play the same Bb instrument. The Principal Cornet is the band's leader. He or she gets all the fancy cornet solos and usually sits on the end of the front row and gets to shake hands with the conductor at the end of a concert! The Solo Cornets also sit in the front row but strangely there are more than one of them and they don't play solos! More often than not, they play the tune. The Second and Third Cornets sit in the back row and tend to play the harmony against the front row's melody. Also on the back row is the Repiano Cornet who is a sort of 'Jack of All Trades'. The Rep sometimes plays with the front row, sometimes with the back row, sometimes with the opposite side of the band and sometimes even gets a little solo! Next to the Rep is the "Sop"; the Soprano - no, not a singer, but a slightly smaller Eb cornet. This is one of the most demanding instruments to play in a band and the Sop is the one with the red face, playing all those very high notes! Moving along the front row we nd the Flugel Horn which is sort of an overgrown cornet! The ugel produces a slightly richer, darker sound than a cornet, similar to that of a tenor horn. Which brings us onto the Tenor Horn which is unique to the brass band. The Tenor Horn is an Eb instrumentand played in a vertical position, unlike the cornet and ugel's horizontal position - they tend to hide behind the conductor in the front row! The Baritone is the rst of the larger instruments and they sit to the right of the Tenor Horn. A Bb instrument, the baritone produces a mellow sound a bit like a tenor horn, but lower. The Euphonium, along with the cornet, is perhaps one of the most well-known instruments in the band. It is really a mini-bass, and gives the band it's deep, rich sound. The principal Euphonium player sits on the end of the row nearest the audience and is another who gets to shake the hand of the conductor! Behnd the "Euphs" and "Baris" we nd the trombones. In Brass bands there is usually a tenor trombone and a bass trombone. For some strange reason, when the band plays a "fun" piece, it is often the trombones that get the limelight! The last, but by no means least, section of the Brass instruments is the Basses who sit in the back row behind the conductor - however with their instruments they certainly can't hide! The Basses give the band that wonderful deep sound and are broken into two sections, the Eb bass and it's lower and bigger cousin, the Bb bass. Stood behind the band are the Percussion section; a very important part of any band, the percussion section can consist of up to ve or six players depending on the music. The percussionuists play anything from the drum kit to the timpani drums to the glockenspiel, xylophone, marimba, tubular bells and basically anything else that can be hit! Last but most certainly not least is the conductor whose job is to lead the band and make sure the correct tempo is kept and prevent the cornets from getting ahead of the rest of the band! I haven't even started on the various sections and how a band gets promoted or relegated and why the judges sit in a tent and why the Winter Gardens in Blackpool or the Whit Marches are marked on every bandsman's calendar. Sufce to say that once you get involved it's a whole new world!

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Fred