FAREWELL & THANKYOU "I'm trying to revive Leyburn Band and I've arranged a meeting next Wednesday in Thornborough Hall, will you come and give me some support?" For two reasons I agreed to come along. Firstly because I had great respect for Gerald Hodgson. having admired the many creative contributions he makes to the quality of life in Wensleydale. I wanted to support him. Secondly, because I have always had a keen interest in this great Yorkshire brass band tradition which I first met on coming to the County in 1961. Historically, the Bands were usually part of the welfare programmes supplied by the owners of the mills and the mines. John Fosters of Queensbury for instance, not only built most of the houses in the village, but also provided the library, institute, swimming baths, gas supply and of course, the now world famous, Black Dyke Mills Band. Their relations with the workforce were so good that strikes were almost unknown in the Victorian era. The harmony achieved in making music was often a deciding factor in the harmony in the mill. They reserved their wrath for the Vicar, carrying banners, one of which read, "More Pigs and less Parsons." I would not be surprised for that to happen in Leyburn these days, alas.

There was a fair mixture of people present that evening - 17th September 2003.1 hardly knew any of them except the big man whom I had met on his annual visit to the Methodist chapel in our village with the Reeth Band. After all the talking, little of which I can recall, George Lundberg himself approached me, thrust a cornet into my hands and said, Blow. I blew. It made a sound. I was hired.

Being on the front row with the solo cornets was too much for an elderly beginner and I have found my more comfortable niche on the back row playing 3rd cornet alongside Joan Cairns. (She's even older - but, unlike me, a really accomplished musician) The lead we get from the inimitable, inspirational, mercurial, George Lundberg is proving to be a strong and formative influence on the band as we develop into a creditable team. Another formative and valuable influence on the Band in those early months was that of John Nix from whom some of us continue to receive valuable private tuition. The patient instruction we also get from the Lundberg daughters, Emma and Vicky on Tuesdays is significant, too. In fact, it'll be quite a wrench leaving the Band and the Dale, many different facets of life and leisure. So I have much cause to thank God for Leyburn Band and my new circle of friends. To be part of a team of people all with different instruments making a variety of sounds which together are making music which is entertaining, enjoyable to listen to, creative and even beautiful, is both a thrill and a privilege. I've watched Salvation Army Bands playing hymns or carols in so many public places over so many years and now I, a cathedral dean, have actually stood in the market place and done just that - absolute magic! So, thank you for patiently accepting such a lousy cornetist - though I can play hymns - and I look forward to finding a band in another place where I can continue to play my cornet.

And one last thought. This year's Reith lectures were given by Daniel Barenboim. The last two lectures he delivered in Jerusalem, one in the Arab, Palestinian sector, the other in the Israeli area. He was expanding on the lessons being learnt from the wonderful Arab/Jew orchestra he has founded. He was bowled over by the huge interest and clamour of young musicians to join and make music. It gives him, a Jew, fantastic joy in leading, teaching, inspiring, young Arabs; making music bridging the otherwise unbridgeable gap between the warring factions in that sad land. He says an orchestra (read "band") can do far more to unite people than a thousand politicians. "You have to do two things simultaneously. You have to be able to express yourself, otherwise you are not contributing to the musical experience, but at the same time it is imperative that you listen to the other. You have to understand what the other is doing.... The art of playing music is the art of simultaneous playing and listening." It's a fantastic set of lectures (downloadable) and all I would add is to observe how prominent the Church has been down the centuries, as patron of the arts, not least music, making an incalculably huge contribution to the music world which we, now in lowly Leyburn, are privileged to enjoy. It makes me proud to be a Christian and pleased to have been a part of Leyburn Band, THANK YOU.

Brandon Jackson. Ascension Day 2006