As many of our supporters know, a big part of our rehearsal time across the year is spent in preparation for contests. We usually compete in around 4 or 5 major competitions per year, and the first of these for 2024 took place on Sunday 10th March.

As you can see from the photo above, it was a successful outing for the band!

The brass banding competition scene in the United Kingdom is split into 8 regions, and we fall under the West of England region. Every spring each region hosts its “Area” contest, which decides who is promoted and demoted in the following year between the 5 sections of banding (Championship, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th), as well as the qualifiers for the National Finals in the following autumn.

For the 2024 Regional Championships, the Championship Section Test Piece selected for all bands to play was Philip Sparke’s “Variations on an Enigma”.

The piece was commissioned by Howard Snell for the Desford band and was premiered by them in 1986.

“The ‘Enigma’ is a short snatch of a phrase taken from a well-known brass band test piece - a phrase which caught the imagination of the composer who took it as the basis of a sort of concerto for band with each section featured in turn. First the cornets have their turn, with a ‘moto perpetuo’, and they are followed by the horns and flugel whose variation is delicate and decorative. Trombones follow, each having there own tune in turn and then combining them together. Euphoniums and baritones have an expressive funeral march which is interrupted by percussion and basses who share a rhythmic, syncopated variation. A climax is reached and this is followed by a fugue (based on the theme) against which snatches of the preceding variations appear. The fugue heralds what turns out to be the theme on which all the variations are based, appearing in full at last, whose first five notes are derived from the ‘enigma’ theme. The piece ends with an emphatic final statement by the timpani.” Philip Sparke

It was previously set as the Regionals Test Piece in the year 2000, and Flowers won the contest that day, so there was a high bar already set for us.

The contest took place in Torquay on Sunday 10th March, and the band met at around 11:30am, waiting for our draw which was to be done at noon.

The phone rang and we were told we had been drawn to play as band number 9 in a section of 11, and that we would be on stage at around 6pm. This was our latest draw at the event in over a decade, and very welcome indeed not to appear in the first half!

We met for a quick rehearsal at 3:30pm, before leisurely making our way over to the venue.

We went on stage at The Torquay Riviera Centre, and gave our performance to a packed hall. Fantastic applause and cheering greeted us after the last note, and we knew that we had given a strong performance, but so had several other bands, so we couldn’t count on the result we were looking for.

Around 7:30pm and it was time for the results. This is always a nail-biting experience, made even stronger by the fact that we have received 2nd place at the previous 3 “Area” contests. We were very eager to take a win home to Gloucester!

Major David Barringer, one of the two judges for the contest, gave his speech which commended the bands for tackling a tough piece, and commenting that the standard had been higher than expected. He then went on to say that there had been some discussion needed to sort out some of the mid-table placings, but that the winner and the runners-up had been clear.

The placings were called, and as it came to the announcement of the band in 2nd place, we were all on eggshells! Aldbourne Band were announced the runners-up, and shortly after we were proclaimed as the winning band. This means that in October, we will represent the West of England at the Royal Albert Hall at the National Finals alongside our friends, Aldbourne. This is the 27th qualification that Flowers has received for the National Finals, and the 23rd for the Championship Section of which the first was in 1991.

Our long-suffering librarian Karin putting up with the antics of troublemaker Kelvin!

We are so thrilled to have won the contest, and it is a great testament to the hard work and effort that all of our players put in. In the ever eloquent words of our Musical Director, Paul, “Very pleased with that”.

If you would like to listen to our winning performance, and all other performances from the day, they can be found on the wobplay platform. We would strongly recommend taking out a wobplay subscription, as there is such wealth of music and entertainment to be found on the platform. Click below to find out more.

WOBPLAY

Thank you to all of our supporters and friends for their wonderful comments and messages, it really means the world to the band to have your support. We look ahead now to several high profile engagements, and you can find out more on our engagements tab, here on the website.

West of England Regional Championships 2024 - Retrospective

Flowers band

Upcoming Engagements