Last weekend, on a recent visit to my parents house, I arrived to find mum clearing out a bookcase. "Is this of any interest" she said, passing me the subject of this review. My mouth fell open in amazement...NFBB have been practicing Fletcher's Labour And Love, the piece of music that lent the book it's name, for some weeks now in preparation for the forthcoming Wessex contest. Weird coincidence or what?
Anyway, for those of you that aren't already familiar with it, the book is a compilation of quotes taken from the elite of the brass band world. The book's sub-title - "An Oral History Of The Brass Band Movement" seems to describe the content pretty well. Chapters are divided up into distinct periods "1900-1920" being the first, with "1965-The Present" (actually about 1983, when the book was first published) rounding things off. Within these chapters, such topics as band discipline, female players, international bands and modern music are covered, often in a humourous manner. The quotations have been obtained from many individuals. Some names, Mortimer, Childs, Ball, Newsome are of course very familiar. Others I've little clue about. Perhaps the most interesting quotes, as far as I was concerned, were those from Ken Dennison, with whom the band had a rehearsal with earlier in this year.
The only problem with the book is that the format makes it far too easy to just "dip in" at any random point. I've now completely lost track of what I have and haven't read! Still, if you're interested in brass bands (and if you're not, how come you're reading this?), it's fascinating stuff and well worth searching out.
Guy, 22/11/2000 |
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