Dave Payn
Active Member
Another point, or question I'd like to raise, emanating from the earlier Forgotten pieces thread. (I particularly approve of the suggestions of Ragtimes and Habaneras, and the works of Robert Simpson!)
Interesting point made in the earlier thread about how we're being 'forced fed arrangements'. How true! I've been arguing on here (and elsewhere) for the case for brass bands being featured more regularly at the Proms. Quite a few of the comments have been along the lines of 'not enough quality music' and 'test pieces won't go down well' etc. etc. The quality of a piece of music shouldn't be nullified by its choice as a set piece for a contest, but it is interesting to see that music written by composers not necessarily associated largely with brass bands don't get featured as much in contests, like Robert Simpson, as mentioned earlier, Birtwistle, Henze, and look at the furore Judith Bingham's Prague created, might be a while before that's featured as a set test piece again..... Even Arthur Butterworth's works don't see that much airplay in contests.
So here's a question for you tMPers.... (I don't really know one way or the other yet!), do you think the music of the more regular compositional 'faces' at contests, like Messrs. Wilby, Sparke, Graham and in years gone by, Vinter (and, I dare say, the arrangements of classical works by Frank Wright if we're talking about years gone by!) appeal to a wider public if say, featured at the Proms (or indeed as part of other classical music festivals) or is it really the domain of brass band enthusiasts only? (I am being VERY careful, by the way, NOT to get into a debate about any perceived quality of the works of the composers mentioned, either the regular brass band composers or the ones who didn't contribute so much. I enjoy listening to them all, anyway!)
Interesting point made in the earlier thread about how we're being 'forced fed arrangements'. How true! I've been arguing on here (and elsewhere) for the case for brass bands being featured more regularly at the Proms. Quite a few of the comments have been along the lines of 'not enough quality music' and 'test pieces won't go down well' etc. etc. The quality of a piece of music shouldn't be nullified by its choice as a set piece for a contest, but it is interesting to see that music written by composers not necessarily associated largely with brass bands don't get featured as much in contests, like Robert Simpson, as mentioned earlier, Birtwistle, Henze, and look at the furore Judith Bingham's Prague created, might be a while before that's featured as a set test piece again..... Even Arthur Butterworth's works don't see that much airplay in contests.
So here's a question for you tMPers.... (I don't really know one way or the other yet!), do you think the music of the more regular compositional 'faces' at contests, like Messrs. Wilby, Sparke, Graham and in years gone by, Vinter (and, I dare say, the arrangements of classical works by Frank Wright if we're talking about years gone by!) appeal to a wider public if say, featured at the Proms (or indeed as part of other classical music festivals) or is it really the domain of brass band enthusiasts only? (I am being VERY careful, by the way, NOT to get into a debate about any perceived quality of the works of the composers mentioned, either the regular brass band composers or the ones who didn't contribute so much. I enjoy listening to them all, anyway!)