This recording and sleeve notes kindly provided by Chris Trevena at Sounds Like Cornwall.

SIDE ONE:
1. CORNISH FLORAL DANCE PATROL (Arr. W. E. Moyle)
2. WATCHING THE WHEAT Euphonium Solo Soloist: John Dunstan (Trad. Arr. Brain Wiggins)
3. JOLSON MEMORIES (Arr. StephenYoung)
4. THORNTON (W. E. Moyle)
5. RUFFORD ABBEY (Drake Rimmer)

SIDE TWO
6. ROLL AWAY BET (J. Ord Hume)
7. BERCEUSE DE JOCELYN Trombone Solo Soloist: Bernard Goudge (Arr. G. Beckingham)
8.BRASS BAND BLUES (Gould Mortimer Yorke)
9.SANDY & JOCK Cornet Duet Soloists: Peter & Brian Minnear (E. Sutton)
10. A PSALM FOR ALL NATIONS (Eric Ball)

St. Dennis Band (Cornwall) was formed in 1836 as part of the festivities in connection with the coronation of Queen Victoria and has continued to function by voluntary contribution to the present time. The band’s first contest success was in 1882 followed by a series covering all the ensuing years. It had successes at the Crystal Palace, the Alexandra Palace, where national contests were held, and no less than 22 First-Prize winners of the Prince of Wales in Cornwall. Currently, it holds the West of England Area Championship, a title won on eight previous occasions. Eddie Williams is the son of a well-known Cornish band teacher. He is an accomplished player, having performed with Camborne Town, Brighouse & Rastrick, and The Fairey Bands as horn soloist and was later with the “All-Star Band Of Great Britain” The present high standard of musicianship of the band is due to his painstaking and very thorough teaching and leadership. He is justifiably very proud of his junior band and with such a thriving organization the future of the senior combination is assured. – R. RICHARDS

Soprano Cornet: P. MINNEAR
Solo Cornet: B. MINNEAR
Solo Cornet: R. OSBORNE
Solo Cornet: K. TUCKER
Solo Cornet: D. ANGILLEY
Repiano Cornet: N. GROSE
Second Cornet: S. MINNEAR
Second Cornet: P. WILLCOCK
Third Cornet: B. TRUDGIAN
Third Cornet: P. STRONGMAN
Solo Horn: D. HAMBLEY
First Horn: D. WILLIAMS
Second Horn: M. YELLAND
Solo Baritone: T. SLEEMAN
Second Baritone: M. WESTLAKE
Second Baritone: J. DUNSTAN
Solo Euphonium: M. FARO
Asst. Euphonium: B. GOUDGE
Solo Trombone: S. PASCOE
Second Trombone: M. BAZELEY
Bass Trombone: F. ARTHUR
Eb Bass: K. BAZELEY
Eb Bass: G. HITCHENS
Bb Bass: T. HITCHENS
Bb Bass: R. CRADDOCK Percussion
Conductor: E. J. WILLIAMS

The programme content on this record is wide and varied, designed to suit every taste. The march is a rousing contest march, Roll Away Bet by Ord Hume, and the solo spots are for the trombone soloist, Bernard Goudge, playing the delightful melody Berceuse-de-Jocelyn (Angels Guard Thee) and the soloists in the Cornet Duet are the brother’s Peter & Brian Minnear, playing the very popular Sandy & Jock. The new arrangement of Watching The Wheat features the euphonium soloist John Dunstan. Items in a lighter vein are Ivor Gould’s Brass Band Blues and a contemporary arrangement, Cornish Floral Dance Patrol, by the Cornish composer and bandmaster, William Moyle. Also from the pen of William Moyle is a delightful prelude to an original hymn tune, Thornton. Two larger original brass band compositions are included, the tone poem Rufford Abbey, by Drake Rirnrner, and Eric Ball’s A Psalm For All Nations. Rufford Abbey is the ancestral home of the composer and is situated in Nottinghamshire. It is a dramatic work depicting legends associated with the abbey (i) The ghostly monk (ii) The lady in crinoline (iii) In Sherwood forest (iv) Royal Pageantry. Eric Ball’s new composition A Psalm For All Nations was commissioned specially for the National Contest finals in London, 1970. It is a fantasia on Jubilate Deo (Psalm 100). The music is not an exact setting of the words (says the composer) but rather an attempt to express something of its spirit.

Recorded at Foster Hall, Bodmin, Cornwall. Production Tom Beckingham. Engineer: Vic Maile. Sleeve Notes: F. J. Beckingham. Photograph: Sylvia Pitcher. Design by Graphreaks. Manufactured for Polydor Records Ltd. London. Printed & Made by MacNeill Press Ltd. London SE1.
THE BEST IN THE WEST ST. DENNIS BAND