Happy 100th Birthday!

No, it’s not me. I found this by accident.

Land of Hope and Glory
Top Half

The page is too big to get into one picture.

Land of Hope and Glory
Lower Half

Look at the date of the stamp.

Date stamp

One of the shelves on my bookcase collapsed. I should have realised when the picture on the box the shelves came in had two books and four ornaments that their notion of a BOOK shelf and mine were very different.

I was looking for a particular music book, moved something and discovered it had been supporting the shelf above. While repacking – and muttering curses against bookshelf manufacturers – I noticed the date stamp on this sheet music is almost exactly 100 years old.

I tend to ‘inherit’ old music occasionally. People have music from a parent or grandparent that they can’t read and will often give it to me rather than throw it away. I like it (my husband not so much). It feels like little bits of history, particularly if there are written comments by previous owners, sometimes of favourite pieces, or performance reminders.

This piece reminds me of the movie ‘Brassed Off’. It tells the story of the colliery brass band of Grimethorpe mine in England. The pit is being closed and this has a devastating effect on the colliery workers.

There is also mention of the effect coal mining had on the health of the miners. When the band conductor is ill, the band plays Danny Boy outside his window, by the light of their miner’s lamps. One of the band members had lost his instrument in a bet, and whistles his part.

There is some wonderful music and in a bittersweet ending the band wins the National Brass Band Competition. After the competition they are riding through London in an open top bus and they play the very patriotic  Land of Hope and Glory (Also known as Pomp and Circumstance). It was such a poignant comment on the government’s decision to close the pits, destroying a way of life for so many people.

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