BALLYGOWAN FLUTE BAND

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OUR MUSIC

During an average year the band plays a very wide range of music, and summarising this into a sentence or two is not easy. We play marches of course - not only on the street but in concerts and on the contest platform.

We play all sorts of music in concerts and entertainment contests e.g. light classical, Irish and other traditional, and music from the movies - generally any music that the general public will recognise and love.

We also turn over quite a range of classical music. The brass, concert/military and accordion bands can buy on the open market all the test piece music they need, because there has always been a worldwide market for them to choose from - not so for flute bands! In the early 20th century our representatives turned to the classics for contest test pieces. The pioneers would have put their experience and knowledge to good use by transcribing music from the masters (Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn to name but a few). In recent years our contest test pieces have included music by Mussorsky, Britten, Dukas, Smetna, Copeland, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Verde, Beethoven, Berlioz, Wagner, Mancicin, Brahms, Saint-Saens - the list is endless. Indeed it would be difficult to challenge any claim that the degree of contact with classical music that a young championship flute band person could experience, is unlikely to be surpassed in any other band movement.

To name some of these arrangers/transcribers is to fail to name others who have contributed immensely, yet some names do come to the fore. From the early days, the best were undoubtedly John Murdie, Billy Blythe and Harry Gillespie, and from more recent times David Heaney, Frank Browne and Mark Douglas.

Flute bands are supposed to play marches - and why not? Surely there is no better foot-tapper known to man! Here are some examples of marches we play (or have played) - click the composer's name (if underlined) for more information:

PERFORMING RIGHTS

We have a mounted certificate on the Bandroom wall from The Performing Rights Society, thanking us for our long-standing support for those who make their living from their music, and whose music we play.