Tour of Norway
29th July
to 5th August 1998
Hebden
Bridge Junior Band returned home on Wednesday 5th August from their
week-long tour of Norway. 49 Band members accompanied by 28 parents and friends
took the 23-hour ferry crossing from Newcastle to Haugesund. Midway between
Stavanger and Bergen this town became the base from which the Band was to give
five concerts.
The
first, on Friday 31st July, was on the quayside in Skudeneshavn.
Located at the southernmost tip of the island of Karmøy, the charming harbour
and fishing village, today the home of many artists, was a major herring fishing
centre 200 years ago.
The 125 cottages and 100 wharf-side warehouses in the “gamlebyen”
(old town) are extraordinarily well preserved and epitomise the culture of
Norway’s coastal communities.
We were fortunate to be given a guided tour by the chairman of the
Mercantile Association, Mr Dag Sandslett. In the weeks before the concert, Mr
Sandslett had promised to do his best to fix the weather, and, as if by magic,
the rain stopped just as the parents and committee members began setting up the
music stands on the water’s edge. The sunshine brought a large audience to
hear a varied concert ranging from “The Floral Dance” to Holst’s “Second
Suite in F Major”.
Soon to leave the Band, to study medicine, principal trombonist Daniel
Rogers gave a spirited rendition of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”. A lovely
surprise was the appearance of Torstein Hatlevik, who joined the Band to take
the lead on solo euphonium with Barry Manilow’s “One Voice” arranged by
Ray Farr. We are very grateful to Torstein for his invaluable help in organising
the Tour. It is due to Band Secretary, Di Smith’s continued contact with this
Royal Northern College of Music postgraduate student, coupled with Bandleader
Brian Robinson’s long held dream of visiting Norway, that the Tour became a
reality. (Di’s response to Torstein’s letter to the “British Bandsman”
in February 1996 led to the wonderful joint concert with the championship band
Sagvaag Musikklag in Todmorden Town Hall). After kindly supplying the children
with drinks and ice cream, Mr Sandslett led the party to the nearby beach at
Sandves. This lovely sandy beach provided an ideal spot to let off steam and
have a dip in the grey North Sea.
On
Saturday the band was up early for the short drive north to the ferry at Buavaag.
Leaving one of the two coaches on the mainland, the party crossed to
Langevaag on the island of Boemlo. The coach made two short journeys to get the
whole party across to Eidesvik on the other side of the island. By now it was
raining hard and after the final hop
across to the island of Espevær by means of a 42 seater passenger ferry and
with everyone carrying at least two loads of instruments or equipment, many
of the party were beginning to wonder where they were being led. Espevær, with
a population of 170 and only one car, is one of the 904 Boemlo islands and is
the home of Torstein Hatlevik, who, once again had taken time off work to join
the Band. He had joked with the children that Espevær means “sunshine
island”, and strangely enough, by the time the second half of the group landed
the rain had stopped and everyone had a chance to explore this idyllic,
traffic-free island. Espevær grew from the 1600s to be the largest fishing
station of the Bømlo area and between 1820 and 1860 30 large herring salting
sheds were erected here.
The 950 square metre Hummerparken, built in 1887, operated until 1957 as
a lobster fishery and has been restored as a unique and prize-winning piece of
cultural heritage, building style and construction.
The Band did not get to see Espevær’s
famous UFO Circle but one
attraction, which was visited, was Baadehuset. Over the years this small
building served as a trading post, bakery, pub and seaman’s hostel but is now
a museum full of fascinating things, including a family tree of everyone born on
the island from 1500.
To get to this little museum, the children had a great deal of fun
crossing a stretch of water in fives and sixes on a unique coin operated chain
ferry. For the whole tour Torstein’s sister, Silje, was to accompany the Band.
This she did in more ways than one by joining the ranks of the band to play
cornet in a wonderful outdoor concert, which for many was the high point of the
tour. After being given a delicious lunch by Maalfrid Bie Nilssen, Mr Robinson
led his Band on to the quayside in front of the
Biekronaa Kafé.
With a beautiful backdrop of sunlit sea, tiny islands, boats resting at
anchor and the Norwegian flag raised in their honour, the Band played the moving
“Espeværssangen” as the many islanders in the large audience sang. The
concert covered a large spectrum of styles and tastes from Glenn Miller to
Cerian Horne’s delightful cornet solo rendition of Edvard Grieg’s “On the
Way Home”. This perfect concert will go down in Band history for many reasons;
not least being that in 27 years it is the only concert ever performed out
of uniform. The logistics of transporting to the tiny island the
uniforms as well as the instruments and music defeated even the Band’s
ingenious “roadies”. During the afternoon, some of the Band were lucky
enough to visit Torstein’s house and see and play his serpent an ancient
forerunner of the brass instruments familiar to the Band, and one of the
instruments with which Torstein is rapidly making a name for himself on the
concert circuit and in early music ensembles.
Three
ferry crossings then took the group and their equipment back to Eidesvik and on
to a second concert in Bømlo Church. Here the Band members were reunited with
their uniforms and gave a superb but short concert in a hall with the most
excellent acoustics. Julia Martin’s E flat horn solo “He Ain’t Heavy,
He’s My Brother” and Richard Brook and Nick Moors’ side drum feature,
“Come Follow the Band, & Swing March”, were particularly outstanding.
All thanks are due to Kaare Bogetveit and Per Arne Loenning of Hillestveit
Skulekorps for their help in organising the concert. The players were reluctant
to leave so early, but one more piece would have meant that half of the party
would have missed the last ferry back to the mainland!
On
Sunday, the Band made another early start in order to catch the ferry from
Ropeid to Sand.
The coaches travelled alongside beautiful fjords acting as mirrors for
the spectacular mountains towering overhead. Once again Torstein accompanied the
Band and Oddvar Nøstdal, Headmaster of Suldal Music School, met us off the
ferry. Mr
Noestdal had arranged a visit to the biggest hydroelectric turbines in Norway.
Buried 500 metres deep inside the mountain at Kvilldal on the south side
of Sudalsvatnet Lake, the party entered a cavern resembling something from a
Bond movie. The production hall is 131 metres long, 20 metres wide and 43 metres
high; room enough to house 2,000 people. The massive turbines produce enough
electricity to supply both Bergen and Stavanger. Torstein and Oddvar played an
impromptu baritone horn duet at the lakeside whilst everyone ate a picnic. The
music echoed throughout the mountains and it was only the sound of some of the
younger Band members throwing stones into the water that brought us back to
reality. As we travelled back to Sand through this beautiful area rich in Viking
history, we passed over 40 Iron Age burial mounds on the fertile plain on the
banks of the Suldals-laagen. Also of great interest was a visit to the Salmon
Studio in Sand where the fish could be viewed through a large underwater window
as they made their way up the powerful rapids where one day’s fishing costs
over £1000 but you may just catch a 22 pounder.
Mr
Noestdal played trombone with Manger Band and at the concert held later in the
afternoon he first introduced Brian Robinson and his players and then took his
place in the trombone section. He played throughout the concert which ranged
from “On Ilkla Moor Baht’At” to the haunting arrangement by Parker and de
Haan of Mozart’s clarinet concerto, “The Young Amadeus”. Cerian Horne on
cornet and Katherine Morley on flugel gave a beautiful performance of
“I Know Him So Well”.
Monday
was a concert-free day and was filled with shopping, a brief beach trip and a
look at St Olav’s Church at Avaldsnes (1250) built on the estates of King
Harald the Fair-haired who had unified Norway in 872. From here the whole party
trekked along the windswept coastline to the reconstructed Viking Long House at
Bukkøy.
On the last day,
the organiser of the outdoor concert in Haugesund phoned to cancel on account of
the weather. The Band voted to play, and again flouted tradition by playing
without chairs. They were once again joined by Torstein to give a well-attended
performance in the main shopping precinct.
All too soon, the
six days had passed and the group was setting off on the voyage home. The Band
was the biggest ever taken on tour by Hebden Bridge Juniors and everyone
involved is already looking forward to a reunion evening at which the Band is
determined Silje and Torstein Hatlevik should be present. Romantically, on the
outward crossing Brian Robinson announced his engagement to Mrs Janice Stewart
and laid on a carefully planned surprise party and dinner. We send our heartiest
congratulations and wish the future Mr and Mrs Robinson much happiness.
© Dai Hallgarth
08-08-98