National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain

The Centaur, Cheltenham Race Course - Saturday 24th September 2011

What a fantastic result!  5th our of 17th bands in the 2nd Section.  Congratulations Pendennis Brass on this superb achievement!

Brunel Brass came first, which means that there are two bands in the top six from the West of England.  4 Bars Rest put the South Yorkshire Police band in top spot but they only managed third place with Leicestershire Co-op coming second and Thundersley Brass fourth.

It was a fine performance and had it not been for the second movement, Pendennis would have been placed higher - never mind, there's always next year!

South West Brass Band Association

Exmouth Brass Band Festival - Saturday 3rd September 2011

Congratulations Pendennis Brass on claiming second position at the Exmouth Brass Band Festival last Saturday.  Last year they were beaten into first place by Soundhouse Brass - who finished under Pendennis this year, then St Pinnock beat them into first place this year - let's watch where they end up next year.  You must feel very proud of yourselves on coming second to a "championship" band!  Good luck at the National Finals at the end of the month.

West of England Championships 2011

Riviera Centre, Torquay - Sunday 13th March 2011

Congratulations Pendennis Brass on coming second in the Second Section in this championship, claiming a place at the Nationals to be held at Cheltenham Race Course at the end of the September - the only Cornish band to participate!

On a glorious sunny (but cool) Sunday morning, Pendennis Brass made their way to Torquay.  On the way, they stopped at Chelston Church Hall for their customary practice before the big event and where the new pictures for the band profiles were taken.

Pendennis had been drawn number 8 - a good place to be as this was just after the adjudicators took a comfort break and would come back refreshed to the hall.

The test piece, Rresurgam by Eric Ball, is the work that many believe is the composer's finest and was first used as the test piece for the 1950 British Open Championship, held at Belle Vue, Manchester.  The title of thetone poem can betranslated as "I Shall Rise Again" and it was probably inspired by the sudden and unexpected death of the composer's sister-in-law.  The opening section of the work is quiet and has as its inspiration some words from the Book of Wisdom - The souls of the righteous are in the hands of God .. - this motif recurs throughout the work.  The music is charged with emotion, sometimes harsh and often discordant.  The fateful 'knocking at the door' and part of Dies Irae (Day of Wrath) are significant moments in the music.  The music moves towards a final glorious revelation "I shall rise again", closing with a calm, quiet statement of the opening theme.  The performer and listener are left to make of this emotionally charged work, what they will. [Words lifted from the West of England Championship programme.]

Fourteen bands too part in this Section and the adjudicators were Ian Browbill and David Lancaster, both of whom have played the piece on various occasions.

This was the article on 4barsrest about the second placed band:

Immense Challenge

With the judges stating that despite the enduring difficulty of Eric Ball's iconic work - "It's an immense challenge", David Lancaster added - they were impressed by a least a couple more of the 14 contenders from an uneven overall standard, in the box.

Notably, for the pair who had first come across the piece as aspiring young cornet players some years before, the second best account came from the hard working Pendennis Brass (Falmouth) conducted by Steve Thomas, who have also risen rapidly upwards since winning the Fourth Section here in 2007.

Well done to everyone, espeically Steve at the helm and good luck to you all in Cheltenham.

 

64th ANNUAL CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE

SOUTH WEST BRASS BAND ASSOCIATION

Riviera Centre, Torquay - Saturday 6th November 2010

Pendennis Brass were drawn third in the Second Section of the annual championship out of seven bands.  This was the first time that Pendennis had performed in the Second Section and hopes were high.

The previous evening they had performed their last rehearsal in the Ballroom at Falmouth Hotel and things were sounding excellent.

On the day, there was not much to choose between the top bands and Pendennis eventually came fifth with Lewis Merthyr taking top spot, Phoenix Brass second and City of Bristol third.

Well done on your first visit in this section and good luck for next year.

SOUTH WEST BRASS BAND ASSOCIATION

Exmouth Brass Band Festival - Saturday 4th September 2010

The 11th Festival at Exmouth saw Pendennis at draw number 8 - first band after the lunchtime break.  They have been practising hard and had a great contest at Mawnan Smith the previous Tuesday evening.  Unfortunately, due to the fact that a couple of bands had pulled out, instead of going on at 2.30 p.m., they had to wait until 3.00 p.m.  However, it was certainly worth the wait!

Results:

Best Overall Performance               Soundhouse Brass

Best Overall Entertainment             Pendennis Brass

Best Soloist                                  Flugal player from Soundhouse Brass

Best Peercussion Section              Pendennis Brass

Best Trombone Section                  Sidmouth Town

Best in Second Section                  Pendennis Brass

Well done everyone and hope Steph had an enjoyable 18th birthday!

 

WEST OF ENGLAND BANDSMEN'S FESTIVAL

86th Annual Contest, Bugle - 19th June 2010

Pendennis Brass travelled to Bugle for a 10.00 a.m. march down through Bugle to Molinnis Park on a glorious sunny day.  There were 30 bands taking part in this year's competition with the largest sections being the Fourth and Championship and included three bands in the Training Section and two in the Youth.

Pendennis were up against Bugle Silver in the Second Section playing a test piece by Philip Sparke entitled Triptych.  It was a close run contest and, unfortunately for us, Bugle pipped us at the post by one point with Rachel Scott, Timpanist of Bugle, winning the best player award!

Good luck for next year! 

National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain

West of England Championships 2010

Pendennis Brass travelled to Torquay for the first time to enter in the second section.  Unfortunately, they were drawn first - not the placing that Steve or the Band hoped for.  However, they went out and played as well as they could and then had the long wait until the last band played and the results were announced.

It was a disappointing 13th out of 14 when the results came in and a long trip back to Cornwall!

Don't worry, there's always Bugle and next year - well done everyone!