One of the things we always hear about George Allan is his excellence in the brass band contest march format. He’s the gifted amateur “march king.” you say. It’s certainly what he’s best known for nowadays – and when I say ‘best-known’ I mean ‘just about only known for.’ We know that the brass band…
Continuing our series of pieces expored with the help of Sibelius software during ‘lockdown’ we this time turn to a gem of a march by George Allan. This is the contest march “Belmont”. Our copy was donated to us by Kirkbymoorside Band’s Musical Director Sarah Woodward over a year ago, and when she told us…
For this blog post, as it’s been a while since I’ve posted on any progress, I’ve included a piece of recent correspondence between Ken Irvin of Ashbourne Band (whom I must again thank) and myself, in part because it illustrates one of the challenges we’re having at the moment in understanding George Allan. Why did…
When I think of the Victorian era, which came to a close almost 120 years ago, it’s tempting to consider how our perception of the importance of time has changed. We currently enjoy an era of near instant gratification where much of the information we need can be summoned to our presence within seconds; where…
Over a month has now passed since our first concert of George Allan and Thomas Bulch material. I thought it might be a good idea, now that some of the footage is finally emerging, to reflect on the process and the event itself. The Idea The group that we are, as well as the subject…
One of the key objectives we’ve set for ourselves, is to build what we hope to be ‘the definitive’ list of names of musical pieces written, or in some cases arranged, by both Thomas Bulch, and George Allan. Sounds easy? Each of the two composers presents their own particular problem in this respect. In this…
Look what flopped onto the doormat today via Pennine Music – only a copy of George Allan’s composition “Phantom”. I’ve been excited about this one coming for a while as I originally ordered it back at the end of last year along with “Ovation” – it’s great to finally see it. I wonder what it…
Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Dave Reynolds, the website administrator. How the Friends of the Wizard and Typhoon came into being is a long(ish) story and one certainly too long to recount in a single blog post, however I will attempt to summarise. I’d been intrigued for a few years about George Allan. My…
