Day 43 30th Sept Not swimming but banding

I'm so glad I went for the outdoor swim yesterday. Usually on a Sunday morning I'm out at George's football match, but today I'm indoors all day: 9am rehearsal in the band hall in Temple Cowley, and then off in a coach to The Hawth Theatre in Crawley, with City of Oxford Silver Band to compete at the SCABA (Southern Counties Amateur Bands Assoc) Annual Autumn Contest. It's like Brassed Off! But of course in real time, so there is a lot of time spent in the bus and sitting around in the bar/cafe waiting for our turn to queue up for Registration and entry into the backstage area shortly before our performance. Identification is taken very seriously - I have to present a pre-registered photo ID card to be checked off against our band's list. This is to prevent bands substituting much better players - perhaps from bands competing in the higher sections - for the less good members of the band. I'd be a prime sub - subbed out on the bench. But as it happens, our two best 3rd cornets (there are no 4ths, only solo, rep, soprano, 1sts and 2nds above us) are unavailable today - Terry is on holiday in Europe, and Carrie is running the Loch Ness marathon! That leaves me as principal 3rd cornet supported by Brett, who is much more experienced a brass player than I am, but usually plays horn, and has stepped in to fill a gap before going back to uni for the autumn term.

It is not just I.D. that is taken seriously, but anonymity too.The bands are not named, only referred to by a number which is randomly assigned to them, as is the order of play. In the theatre or concert hall where the bands perform there is a 4 sided tent rigged up inside which sits the adjudicator throughout the performances in each section. The adjudicator only knows the number of the band playing, and cannot see them to recognise individuals, or from their uniforms, to know which band is on stage. Thus the judging is neutral and supposed to be objective, but it can also be, maybe as is a result, extremely harsh!

Weeks of rehearsal culminate in our 11 mins on stage playing our chosen piece - a very dramatic composition called Olympus by Philip Harper. For most of it the 3rd cornets are playing with the 2nds, or in harmony along with some of the lower instruments. There is one short section in the middle however where we get to play the tune, albeit an octave down from the 2nds, but we do have a bit on our own! The audience wouldn't notice if we went a bit wrong (quietly), or dropped out, but the adjudicator would. He or she has the score, and if the 3rd cornets are not heard playing their bit it will be noted, and marks deducted! So we have to go for it, especially as the composer's instruction at that point is to play with cup mute in. So we need lots of puff to make any sound at all (the swimming is doing great to help with my lung capacity) and we have to be really careful not to drop the mute (made of metal) on the floor as we pick it up and put it down. Scary stuff!

There are some dodgy moments, (not only for 3rd cornets!) but we get to the end without any major disasters, Brett and I pleased with our efforts and, as we come off stage, the band as a whole seems relieved. It could have been worse! Now comes the long wait until the results are announced. Time for a drink or two.

A rep from each band has to go up on the stage to receive the results while all the rest of the players sit in the auditorium. The adjudicator is finally ready to deliver his judgement, which is fairly positive about the bands placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd, and scathing of the bottom two bands (there are only 5 entered in this section). We really don't know how we measure up. Waiting to go on stage earlier we could hear the band before us over the intercom, and felt sure at the time that we could easily sound better than them, but when you get on stage, under the lights, in a very different acoustic, it is really very hard to play your best, or to know how it is sounding. So when he finally announces the prizes, in reverse order, and says that in 3rd place, and winner of the Bob Whitehouse Memorial Cup, is Band number 4, City of Oxford Silver Band, we erupt in cheers. Only 3rd, but saved from ignominy! Poor old bands number 3 and 5, did he have to be so harsh? We don't win the David Chappell Trophy for Best Back Row Cornets (perhaps if Terry and Carrie had been here?) but we go home pretty pleased with ourselves.

On our way back through Bracknell we pass the sign for Coral Reef swimming pool - on my list for another day - but I'm asleep.