INSTITUTIONAL GREETINGS| 100 years ago... |
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| Begins of the Contest |
1913 Contest Thursday 31 July and Friday 1 August A hundred years ago the International Wind Band Contest "City of Valencia" was also an international competition: one of the guest bands to perform on both days of the competition was the Turin Municipal Band, whose conductor, Giuseppe Vaninetti, was also a member of the jury. His fellow jurors were Amancio Amorós, a teacher at the Valencia Conservatory, and Antonio Bustelo, the Band Leader of the 54th Vizcaya Regiment. The Contest dates straddled July and August: on Thursday 31 July and Friday 1 August the performances were held in the Valencia Bullring. At approximately four thirty in the afternoon the 10 bands taking part in the Contest, plus the two guest bands, the Turin Municipal Band and our own Valencia Municipal Band, began the official parade inside the Bullring. The bands had reached the Bullring by marching through the city's main streets in two groups, one starting at the Plaza de Tetuán and the other at the Plaza de la Virgen. On 31 July, the first day of the Contest, the 7 bands in Division Two played the compulsory piece, "Ruy Blas" by Felix Mendelssohn. Then the 3 bands in Division One each played their free-choice piece and the day was brought to a close by performances from the two guest bands, the Turin Municipal Band and the Valencia Municipal Band, conducted by Luís Ayllón. On 1 August, the second and last day of the Contest, the participants marched through the city center to the Bullring where, at approximately four thirty p.m., the official parade took place. The 3 bands in Division One played first, performing their compulsory piece, "Obertura Coriolano" by Ludwig Van Beethoven. They were followed by the 7 bands in Division Two who each played their free-choice piece. When the two guest bands had finished their performances, the audience and the musicians of the participating bands went to the City Council Fair Pavilion, which had been set up in the Alameda for the July Fair, to hear the announcement of the winners. In Division One: first prize and 3,000 pesetas went to the Banda Primitiva of Lliria, conducting by Julián Palanca; second prize and 2,000 pesetas to the Centro Instructivo Unión Musical of Lliria, conducted by Eduardo Felip; and third prize and 1,000 pesetas went to the Banda del Patronato Musical Obrero of Torrent, conducted by José María Rius. In Division Two: first prize and 2,000 pesetas were awarded to the Antella Municipal Band, conducted by José García; second prize and 1,000 pesetas went to the Banda Primitiva of Monserrat conducted by Miguel Navarro; and third prize and 500 pesetas went to the Banda Primitiva of Carcagente, conducted by Miquel Gimeno. The following bands also took part in Division Two: the Pentagrama of Alcira, the Progreso of Carcagente, the Godella Municipal Band and the Agrícola of Monserrat. Alfredo Ruíz / Daniel Belloví |
