Best Area Testpieces of recent years

[Andy_Euph]

I'm totally bored (as you may have guessed) and i'm just listening to Jazz by Philip Wilby, think its quite good and one of the better area pieces of late...what do you think?

Here's mine:

Championship: Jazz - 2001?

1st Section: Music for the Common Man

2nd Section: Celestial Prospect

3rd Section: St Austell Suite - coz we qualified

4th Section: Lydian Pictures - 4th section got a decent piece for once

These are just pieces that I can remember since i've been playing but these are the ones i've enjoyed listening to.

 

[drummerboy]

I can't honestly make good decisions on some sections, but here are some of my thoughts:

Championship: I enjoyed Tristan Encounters this year, but I know some people didn't get on with it. Whitsun Wakes from a few years ago was good too.

2nd Section: Celestial Prospect - can't argue with that. Possibly one of the best area test pieces overall for ages.

4th Section: Lydian Pictures - not played it, but sounded good on the CD.

Can't think of any more area pieces off hand, but I can tell you neither Symphony for Brass nor Prague impressed me too much!

 

[dazzyboy]

I have to agree that Jazz is my favourite from recent years too....and, gonna open a can of worms here, i think i was one of the only people to enjoy playing prague...because it was so different than the standard format. Now b4 this thread continues i just want to stress that i dont want this to desend into an arguement about whether or not prague was a good/bad/awful test piece choice....personally i think it was an awful choice for the area because of its 'listenability' (if that's a word). I enjoyed it as a piece of music to play but i did not enjoy it as a brass band test piece.
Another piece that i enjoyed playing from a few years back in th 2nd section was 'Sword, Jewel and Mirror' by Philip Harper. That was great fun to play.

 

[Lauradoll]

I can honestly say I've enjoyed playing all of the area test pieces I've played, but really liked Whitsun Wakes a few years ago, and Tristan this year.

 

[HBB]

Definately not Celestial Prospect!! Not just a horrible piece (and hard to read!) bad adjudication too!

In my opinion!

 

[drummerboy]

Definately not Celestial Prospect!! Not just a horrible piece (and hard to read!) bad adjudication too!

In my opinion!

Horrible piece? Hard to read?!? I've never had any problems with SA publications being hard to read. 8)

 

[Dave Euph]

I really enjoyed Trisan Encounters - as a piece. I think some people would be inclined to disagree with me though, and I never played it. I just really enjoyed listening to the thing.

 

[Blagger]

I liked Tristan ( with Freckleton Band then )
It made more sense if you listend to the original Wagner that inspired it.
Does anybody remember The Beacons ?

 

[Dave Payn]

Don't know if these are even the 'best' in my own opinion, but some good ones (to my ears) from down the years

Championship - Blitz (used in 1999)
1st - Purcell Variations/Royal Parks/Passacaglia on a Theme of Brahms
2nd - Kaleidoscope (Sparke)
3rd - Tintagel (Denis Wright)/Vizcaya
4th - Partita/Little Suite for Brass No.1 (used in, I believe, 1995)

 

[HBB]

Definately not Celestial Prospect!! Not just a horrible piece (and hard to read!) bad adjudication too!

In my opinion!

Horrible piece? Hard to read?!? I've never had any problems with SA publications being hard to read. 8)

Hee hee! Really small, but that's just me!

 

[little_miss_marcroft]

Definitely agree with Music For The Common Man - thought that was a fantastic piece of music!

Championship section.... I reeeeaaaaally liked Tristan Encounters, so that gets my vote.

 

[WoodenFlugel]

Just going on what I've played I would say one of my favorites of recent years is Coventry Variations. Liked that one a lot - not so sure about our result though...... :roll: . Of the others I did like playing Sword Jewel and Mirror although when I listened other bands after we'd played I couldn't really get on with it :? Going back a few years I loved playing Land of the Long White Cloud.

Of the ones I haven't played I though Kaleidoscope from last year was a good piece too. In fact all of the pieces picked last year were good.

 

[Ali]

For me it has to be 'Variations on an Enigma'. What a piece. If you want something that will test all of the band and especially the bottom end then this is the one. I loved it! This and Phillip Sparke's 'Partita'. Class!

 

[Dave Euph]

I liked Tristan ( with Freckleton Band then )
It made more sense if you listend to the original Wagner that inspired it.

Aye, I am far too familiar with Tristan und Isolde ...

 

[neiltwist]

Don't know if these are even the 'best' in my own opinion, but some good ones (to my ears) from down the years

Championship - Blitz (used in 1999)
1st - Purcell Variations/Royal Parks/Passacaglia on a Theme of Brahms
2nd - Kaleidoscope (Sparke)
3rd - Tintagel (Denis Wright)/Vizcaya
4th - Partita/Little Suite for Brass No.1 (used in, I believe, 1995)

I'm going with dave payn, but then again, I like all pieces.

played tristan this year, and that was good, but I, as everyone has, have got my favourite peices. Blitz has to be at the top, with a few of the first section ones close, and there's diversions on a bass theme, variations on an enigma, and a few similarly popular ones etc...

 

[Scotty]

Championship- Blitz, Jazz or tritan

1st - passacaglia on a theme of brahms ( won the 1st section with bathgate playing it )

2nd - Not sure.

3rd - vizcaya

4th- lydian pictures

 

[Naomi McFadyen]

Can't say I have a "best"... I've enjoyed all the area pieces I've played over the last 4 years... Loved Prague and Tristan for the Champ section pieces and played Haselmere Suite and St Austell Suite before them...
I have some of the CDs of the area pieces to hear the other sections and there isn't any that I haven't liked over this period of time...


;-)

 

[Gorgie boy]

Definately not Celestial Prospect!! Not just a horrible piece (and hard to read!) bad adjudication too!

In my opinion!

Horrible piece? Hard to read?!? I've never had any problems with SA publications being hard to read. 8)

Ever played 'Quintessence' by robert Redhead - talk about unreadable parts! Handwritten and then photocopied approx 1000 times before distribution.

fortunately that sort of thing doesn't happen anymore.

 

[drummerboy]

Never played Quintessence. I think the matter was about normal SA typesetting, which I've personally had no problems with! Even the small blue tune books!

 

[Sharpy]

I cant believe no-one has mentioned Paganini Variations its an awesome piece for the listener and the player.
I also really like Sounds, Spectrum, Year of the Dragon, Festival Music(Eric Ball), Coventry Variations and Royal Parks.