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Thanks for advice- and jogging the memory!
Reminds me of the time on Eastbourne Bandstand- in 1957 (I think!) Bands of Royal Corps of Signals.
Our timpanist was frantically tuning his timps for “Lawrence”- and completely missed the “Boss” (LtCol John L Judd) announcing that we would be playing Lilac Time instead of the programmed Lawrence! A request from the audience!
Oops! Baton down for a soft Schubert opening- and in belts Gus Wilkinson with that infamous fff flourish! Well- we did actually stop and explain to the bemused audience- but from then on every time we did Lilac Time the Boss ALWAYS checked with Gus! He never lived it down- and at a Band reunion a couple of years ago (2003 I think- sadly I wasn’t there!) they set the whole thing up again. Everyone there- including people who joined the band 40 years later knew all about it! Of such things are lifetime memories made!
I sadly announced to my band that at the end of this year I will hang up my baton! Much gnashing of teeth etc- but- after 30 years I’ll let some younger bloke bear the burden.
Keep happy,
Cheers K in OZ
Keith Helgesen. Director of Music, Canberra City Band. Ph: (02) 62910787. Mob 0417-042171 -----Original
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Keith,
If it's not published any longer I would contact the original copyright owners and explain the situation. You may get permission. I would just go ahead and do the parts that need repair, after all, you did originally buy the piece. From a performance and recording rights point of view, the more the work is played or (perhaps) recorded the more chance the original composers/publishers have of getting a royalty, so you are doing them a favour at that, rather than let it rot in the library. Who would object? (I'll get flamed for that)
But you have bought back a fond memory I have connected with this piece. When I was 'in the mob' back in the 80's we had an 'Old Sweat' in the Band who was always harking on about his long service and how he had a desert posting way back with a previous 'line' Band regiment.
We used to play a week of concerts in the London parks and on this particular occasion we were just about to play the "Theme for Lawrence of Arabia". The timpanist opened with that magnificent flourish we all know so well, a hand appeared from out of the clarinet section clutching a plastic bag full of sand which was swiftly deposited over the boots of the said old soldier. I was a newbie then - but I remember having difficulty in continuing playing for fear of laughing. The D.O.M. saw the prank and said nothing, just smiled, probably because the recipient was his 'batman' and so he'd also been subject to his tall tales of the old days many times in the changing rooms.
Great piece though.
Jonathan --
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