Irish National Championships 2004
by Trevor Johnston
Drogheda Brass Band staged a very successful return to the Irish National Band Championships on April 17th 2004. Adjudicator Denis Wilby awarded the band second place for their performance of Eric Ball's "Resurgam", just 4 points short of eventual winners Arklow Shipping Silver Band.
Owing to a last-minute change of plans, the year's venue was new to all the bands: Notre Dame des Missions secondary girls school in Dundrum, Dublin. Located adjacent to the new Luas Bridge in Dundrum this proved to be a fine venue for the weekend's activities which, apart from Section One Brass included two other brass sections and four concert band competitions.
Results
| Band | Score |
|---|---|
| Arklow Shipping Silver Band | 89 |
| Drogheda Brass Band | 85 |
| Lourdes Brass Band | 81 |
| Stedfast Band | 78 |
Test Piece
Bands were required to perform the test piece: this year's choice was Eric Ball's "Resurgam". While no introduction is needed for the brass band aficiandos the piece is virtually unknown outside of the banding world. The first theme is death, but the title belies the next (and, in this writer's opinion, dominant) theme: rebirth (Resurgam: I will arise once more).
The dramatic climax is one of the truly great moments of brass band music. According to Ball this is the moment when the protagonist sees the vision of god and enters into heaven. For the rest of us, the music changes from minor to major by way of a glorious and elusive chord. Scholars have attempted to interpret the opening of Wagner's Tristan prelude for over the century: Ball's great achivement in "Resurgam" was to give the brass band their very own "Tristan chord". Simultaneously profound, electrifying and gorgeous.
The solo cornet section hard at work in preparation for the big day.
Adjudicator
With such a renowned test piece an adjudicator of rare calibre was clearly required. Fortunately, the very person was at hand: presiding over the weekend's activities was Mr. Denis Wilby. His professional career began as principal trumpet of the BBC Northern Ireland Orchestra. Belfast was home for the next 10 years and he went on to became associated with some of the biggest names in banding, not least of which was his post as conductor of Grimethorpe Colliery Band.
This was Denis' second time adjudicating in Ireland. However, a number of players in the Drogheda Brass Band had worked with Denis some years prior when he conducted the sadly short lived Irish Youth Brass, Ireland's first national brass band.
Conclusion
Testament must be paid to conductor Michael Maher for putting all of his effort into guiding the band towards second place. Not only was this our first entry into the championships in two years but the band has also received a number of new members in that time. Consequently this was the first competition for some of our players.
Accordingly, big congratulations are due to every member of the band and to Michael in particular. Second place is a fine result but next year let's not leave any room for improvement.