Whitburn Advance to WLC Final
The second semi-final of the 2006 West Lothian Challenge took place at the weekend (11th June) in the Howden Park Centre, Livingston. This contest is a little different from traditional contests in that it is a knockout event with two semi-finals and a final being played over three Sunday evenings in June. Each band is required to provide a half hour programme of music and is usually asked to include an overture, a solo item and an item featuring a section of the band. This year, in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of his birth, the bands were also asked to include an arrangement of a piece of music by Mozart. As for the first semi-final the adjudicators for tonight‚Äö?Ñ?¥s semi were Tony Swainson, Alan Fernie (overtures and soloists), and Margaret Hardy (entertainment value).
This semi-final featured three times West Lothian Champions Whitburn making a return to the competition after last years enforced sabbatical. Hoping to prevent them making it four finals in four attempts were Kingdom Brass and new first section Scottish Champion band Dalmellington. The Ayrshire band under conductor Archie Hutchison kicked things off with a Steven Sykes arrangement of Duke Ellingtons ‚Äö?Ñ??Caravan‚Äö?Ñ??. The band then featured Euphonium soloist David McKellar in Philip Sparkes wonderful solo ‚Äö?Ñ??Pantomime‚Äö?Ñ??. For their overture number the band gave a very good account of Leonard Bernsteins ‚Äö?Ñ??Overture Candide‚Äö?Ñ?? arranged by Howard Snell. Showing their quieter side the band followed up with some very controlled playing in one of the most well known hymn tunes, Philip Wilbys classic arrangement of ‚Äö?Ñ??The Day Thou Gavest‚Äö?Ñ??. Scotland has produced some fantastic arrangers and the band chose to feature one of these with Sandy Smiths arrangement of Mark Taylors ‚Äö?Ñ??Los Hermanos de Bop‚Äö?Ñ??. For their Mozart feature most of the band got a well earned rest and a small quintet featuring cornets, horn, trombone and Eb bass took centre stage to perform ‚Äö?Ñ??Mozart On Parade‚Äö?Ñ??. The band would have appreciated the breather as their final number was the finale from Deans Jones magnificent work ‚Äö?Ñ??Glorifico Aeternum‚Äö?Ñ??.
Next up were Whitburn. Making a welcome return to this arena the local favourites were greeted with rousing applause. No sooner had the band been seated than they launched straight into their opening number, Fucik‚Äö?Ñ?¥s ‚Äö?Ñ??Entry of the Gladiators‚Äö?Ñ??. Indeed so quick were they out of the blocks they caught the adjudicators by surprise and they listened to the performance form the front row of the audience. Once the adjudicators had found their seats the band continued and featured their new solo euphonium player Richard Kidd in a fantastic performance of ‚Äö?Ñ??Valflickens Dans‚Äö?Ñ?? by Hugo Alfven. Richard exhibited all of the qualities which have led many to mark him out as one of the stars of the future. The band then performed a number which has become synonymous with Whitburn under Andrew Duncan with the MD‚Äö?Ñ?¥s arrangement of ‚Äö?Ñ??Scherzo‚Äö?Ñ?? from Shostakovich 10. Andrew Duncan gave a descriptive introduction to the piece and the music painted such wonderful pictures of Soviet oppression finally overcome. Very powerful and stirring stuff. In a complete change of mood the band painted different pictures with Joseph Turin‚Äö?Ñ?¥s moving composition ‚Äö?Ñ??Hymn for Diana‚Äö?Ñ??. The band are fortunate to be directed by Andrew Duncan because he creates some wonderful arrangements for use in contests such as this. With this in mind what followed were three arrangements from the MD himself, all of them very good arrangements played by a band on top of its form. For their overture the band turned to the world of film and their MD‚Äö?Ñ?¥s wonderful arrangement of ‚Äö?Ñ??Tarus Bulba‚Äö?Ñ??, a favourite for bands at this contest over the years. The choice of good Mozart arrangements in the repertoire is limited and must have presented this years competitors with some headaches, so write your own. That‚Äö?Ñ?¥s just what Whitburn, or rather Andrew Duncan did with an arrangement of Mozart‚Äö?Ñ?¥s ‚Äö?Ñ??Requiem‚Äö?Ñ??. The third number in this trio of pieces from the pen of Andrew Duncan was an arrangement of the traditional song ‚Äö?Ñ??The Water is Wide‚Äö?Ñ?? which tonight featured the bands front row cornets. The band rounded off a sparkling performance with Mark Freeh‚Äö?Ñ?¥s up-tempo arrangement of the spiritual ‚Äö?Ñ??Ol‚Äö?Ñ?¥ Man River‚Äö?Ñ?? featuring the bands kit drummer.
Kingdom Brass are no strangers to this stage having competed in every event in the five year history of the contest. Fresh from victory in the Senior Cup in Blackpool and a successful tour of Germany the band were in confident mood. Under their resident conductor Craig Anderson they opened their programme with a Steve Rockey arrangement of the overture from the rock opera ‚Äö?Ñ??Tommy‚Äö?Ñ??. As this item finished they seamlessly went straight into another Steve Rockey arrangement of ‚Äö?Ñ??Gee, Officer Krupke‚Äö?Ñ?? from the musical ‚Äö?Ñ??West Side Story‚Äö?Ñ?? featuring the trombone section, suitably attired with police hats. Euphoniums seem to be the soloist of choice these days as, like the previous two bands, Kingdom also featured their principal euphonium Brian Patterson playing ‚Äö?Ñ??Rhapsody for Euphonium‚Äö?Ñ?? by James Curnow. Following this the band gave a rousing rendition of the contest march ‚Äö?Ñ??The Waltonian‚Äö?Ñ?? by JJ Richards before showing us their quieter side as they played the Billy Strayhorn number ‚Äö?Ñ??Chelsea Bridge‚Äö?Ñ??. For their Mozart selection Kingdom also chose to play a specially arranged piece, ‚Äö?Ñ??Chor der Janiticharen‚Äö?Ñ??. Craig Anderson explained that the idea for this piece had arisen from the bands recent German tour and had been arranged by a member of the brass group Bleschaden especially for this contest. The arrangement featured a small ten piece group, many of them playing instruments not normally seen in the traditional brass band but more in line with the Mozart theme. A delightful little number which, for this writer at least, was one of the better Mozart arrangements in the contest. To close their programme, and no doubt with a nod to recent events in Blackpool, the band chose Eric Balls ‚Äö?Ñ??Kingdom Triumphant‚Äö?Ñ?? and treated the audience to a fine performance of some of the old masters best writing for brass band. Would it be a prophetic choice for them?
To most people in the audience there was no doubt who was going to the final and adjudicator Tony Swainson agreed as he announced that Whitburn had qualified for the final. The band also won the prize for the most entertaining programme of the evening. Kingdom Brass finished in second place closely followed by Dalmellington in third.
The results of the West Lothian Challenge 2006
Semi-Final 2
| Venue: | Howden Park Centre, Livingston |
| Date: | 11th June 2006 |
| Adjudicator(s): | Tony Swainson |
| Entertainment Programme | |
Band |
Conductor |
Draw |
Pts |
|
| 1. | Whitburn | Andrew Duncan |
2
|
195
|
| 2. | Kingdom Brass | Craig Anderson |
3
|
190
|
| 3. | Dalmellington | Archie Hutchison |
1
|
188
|
