Embrace the 21st century, before it's too late

by Frank Renton

The British Open was a super day this year; after all, what could be much better than listening to music in a great concert hall and being able to meet, and chat, with old friends between performances? The piece chosen as the set test, Titan’s Progress by Hermann Pallhulber, is a monster, and few bands managed to sufficiently master the technical demands to take their performances completely into the realms of great music-making. Having said that, I thought the performances by the bands placed first and second were truly awe-inspiring. The piece was, of course, written for Brass Band Oberösterreich and its conductor, Hannes Buchegger, to play in the own-choice section of the 2007 European Championships. I was backstage for that performance rather than in the auditorium, but the audience reaction was tremendous, and what I heard was mightily impressive, although Oberösterreich is a mightily impressive ensemble with the technical mastery to play virtually anything well. I seem to remember, though, that the adjudicators didn’t think much of the performance!

Looking back at this year’s ‘Open’ in quite cold terms, I was pleased that there were so many people in the hall - for the top bands anyway - but wonder if there is anything to be gained by choosing a piece of such proportions that several bands just didn’t have the technical control and sheer physical stamina to perform it well. There is no doubt in my mind, as a fairly educated listener, that two performances stood out, another two or three were close to being performances and the rest struggled one way or another. There was no problem for the judges in picking out the top two performances, but after that, there was some ‘sucking of teeth’ among the cognoscenti. The aftermath, though, has been anything but quiet, starting with Steven Mead’s outburst, both in person to the organisers of the ‘Open’ and in subsequent writings on his website. I wasn’t present at the event as a professional adjudicator; I only listened as an interested bystander, so it would be wrong for me to comment on Whitburn Band’s eventual placing. I have, however, known Steven for many years, and crossed swords with him more than once, so it’s as well to know ‘where we’re coming from’, as they say in America. To say that Steven wears his heart on his sleeve is possibly understating the case. He is passionate about everything he does and everything he is involved in; that’s what makes him the distinctive musician that he is. Make no mistake, he is an erudite and experienced musician of great ability, who deserves to be listened to, so while I cannot condone his verbal attack on Martin Mortimer, which took place in the presence of almost everyone who is anyone in the brass band press world (dangerous!), I can understand how he felt. I have been there and have the scars to prove it, and at the time it hurts so much you just want to lash out at anyone, or everyone. In the end, I developed a technique - as soon as my band had played, I got in the car and went home. The decision of the judges was then relayed to me by telephone in the car and I was out of harm’s way whatever the outcome. I have also sustained a one-man campaign for the improvement of adjudicating standards for more years than I care to think about, so when the Editor of this noble publication decided to do his own investigation last month, I was more than interested.