dynamics, tone colour. It's the sheer variety and ambition of the music, however, which is perhaps its most surprising feature. It reflects the major advances made in the past 10 years by young musicians still at school.
Kingsdale S chool Dance Band
No, they don't necessarily reject the established repertoire of easy anonymous pieces designed to teach music to as many children as possible; but these m usicians also take on the challenge of more complex pieces in their search towards excellence. Some of the compositions are certainly ambitious; others offer a wide scope, from Mozart's intricate Oboe Quartet by the St Anne's Chamber Ensemble, to Gordon Jacob's grandiose 'Music for a Festival' by the High Wycombe Concert Band. And for the Brighton Youth Orchestra and the Woking County Grammar School for Girls Orchestra to tackle, respectively, Debussy's 'L'Apres-Midi d'un Faune' and Beethoven's Coriolanus Overture, indicates remarkable confidence. There is, too, the unexpectedthe swing of the Kingsdale School
Dance Band, the attractive sounds of the Itchen Wind Quintet and the exotic flow of the Elmwood Steel Band. And when you consider the everyday problems of teaching young musicians to overcome the basics of playing, how can you not be impressed by the command brought
to these performances? Consider some of the problems-all within sight and sound this evening: the sheer weight and size of some of the more awkward instruments, bowing control by the smaller violinists, air capacity for long phrases, violin tone affected by the strength of young muscles on arm movements and the difficulty with embouchure of large instruments.
In the light of all this, music made as it is being made tonight becomes an even more remarkable business. So, we hope路you will listen with pleasure and with some pride, for our music tomorrow is in the hands of these talented young people, with whom work a multitude of devoted teachers and guides. Our thanks go to all of them, and to the many other people (acknowledged below) without whom this concert would not have been possible-including you, our audience. Itchen
~i 'ind
Quintet
The Executi,.: Producer and the Organiser of the 5.:hl'c,l, Prl'm \\ ish to thank the follo\\ ing tc'r ,h':lr ":c'ntribution towards tonight" ; ..:,':-:,'.:r: Mrs l" an..:' \\ c'::, -\.c, Ha.::k.:tt and Mrs Clare \la jG.::-: ; .,: T-,<: TI T ':, Supplements Market ir.g DC'-,~:-'~-:, .:' .J ..i1lth.: staff of the TES :-.c,,,:--,x~ Mr Rcl\ \L'~c', P~~""': ': c:-: : ,, :' ' h.: ASSc\:l ~ ~ il...';"'....'\~- \1 US.l~..! ; I r: ~: nJ :'"':1ent Indu'lrI~'" ... :-:J th':lr m.:mber> San~ L' \1 arubenl ( L K) Ltd. \\ ha pro\ ided
12 Hi-FI L nlls tor (he participat ing musIC groups
The National Festival of Music for Youth Adjudication Committee: Maurice Jacobson Ivor Beynon Geoffry Russell-Smith Bill Ashton Anthony Friese-Greene childs-greene advertising limited and childs-greene public relations limited Larry West land Associates BBC Radio 3, who will do a programme on the concert K-Tel Records, who are recording this concert for an album 7
The National Committee for Audio-Visual Aids in Education The Musicians' Union 'Music Teacher' 'Youth and Music' The Sunday Times Colour Magazine The Royal Albert Hall The Department of Education and Science; directors of education; headmasters; music teachers; parents; and the very talented young musicians themselves