Scottish bands prepare for British Open
TWO Scottish bands are to feature in the 2015 British Open Brass Band Championships, organisers have confirmed.
Co-operative Funeralcare and Kirkintilloch bands will form part of the 18-strong line-up, conducted by Allan Ramsay and Russell Gray respectively. Competitors will be joined by 2014 European champions, Brass Band Burgermusik Luzern, as the Swiss band also looks to take the top prize.
The test piece for this year's contest is Reflections on Swan Lake, by Stephen Roberts. In the composer's own words, the work has been conceived as a test piece in the form of a tone poem using themes from Tchaikovsky's famous ballet. These are woven together into a work that broadly follows the four-movement symphonic pattern. To a certain extent the ‘deceptive' qualities of musical virtuosity are pitted against the ‘pure' qualities of melody and this antagonism epitomizes the test element of the piece.
The 163rd British Open Championships are due to get underway at 10.30am on September 5 at the Symphony Hall in Birmingham. More information is available by logging on to the British Open website.
