The Grimethorpe Colliery Band is a brass band, based in

Grimethorpe Grimethorpe is a large village in the metropolitan borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire, it had a population of 4,672 at the 2011 census. Grimethorpe is located to the east of Barnsl ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and metropolitan county, metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of City of Doncaster, Doncaster and City of Sh ...

, England. It was formed in 1917, as a leisure activity for the workers at the

colliery Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

, by members of the disbanded Cudworth Colliery Band. Along with the

Black Dyke Mills Band Black Dyke Band, formerly John Foster & Son Black Dyke Mills Band, is one of the oldest and best-known brass bands in the world. It originated as multiple community bands founded by John Foster at his family's textile mill in Queensbury, West ...

, the band became the first to perform at

the Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

. Grimethorpe Band achieved worldwide fame after appearing in the film ''

Brassed Off ''Brassed Off'' is a 1996 British comedy-drama film written and directed by Mark Herman and starring Pete Postlethwaite, Tara Fitzgerald and Ewan McGregor. The film is about the troubles faced by a colliery brass band, following the closure ...

''.

History

The year after the band's formation saw it enter its first competition at Belle Vue in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

.. Its first radio broadcast was in 1932 and from 1941 to 1951 it was on UK national radio every month. George Thompson was musical director from the early 1950s until 1972 during which time the band won the British Open Contest for the first time. Thompson was followed by Elgar Howarth as Professional Conductor and Musical Director. 1974 saw the band, along with

, become the first to perform at

. The band continued through the industrial troubles of the 1980s and the closure of Grimethorpe Colliery on 13 October 1992. The band gained first place with 99 out of 100 on 17 October 1992 in the National Brass Band Championship at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Following the closure of the Grimethorpe Colliery in 1993, the Band was sponsored by RJB Mining (later UK Coal plc) and then by Powerfuel.

Premieres

The Grimethorpe Colliery Band has premiered some of the most important brass music of the 20th century, including Sir

Harrison Birtwistle Sir Harrison Birtwistle (15 July 1934 – 18 April 2022) was an English composer of contemporary classical music best known for his operas, often based on mythological subjects. Among his many compositions, his better known works include '' T ...

's ''Grimethorpe Aria'', written for the band, and

Hans Werner Henze Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large oeuvre of works is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Stravinsky, Italian music, Arabic music and jazz, as well as ...

's ''Ragtimes and Habaneras'' as well as several pieces by Sir Malcolm Arnold.

Rock and pop

The band has appeared on rock and pop records, notably " When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease", on Roy Harper's 1975 ''HQ'' album, and

Peter Skellern Peter Skellern (14 March 1947 – 17 February 2017) was an English singer-songwriter and pianist who rose to fame in the 1970s. He had two top twenty hits on the UK Singles Chart - " You're a Lady" (1972), which typifies his signature use of b ...

's 1978 and 1979 albums ''Skellern'' (including the hit single "

Love Is the Sweetest Thing "Love Is the Sweetest Thing" is a popular song written in 1932 by British band leader and singer Ray Noble. Using guest vocalist Al Bowlly, Noble's recording was a big hit on both sides of the Atlantic, bringing Noble his first American succe ...

") and ''Astaire''. In 1976, the band assisted comedian Max Bygraves in recording a song specially commissioned by the

National Coal Board The National Coal Board (NCB) was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the United Kingdom's collieries on "ve ...

called "Do It The Safety Way", in order to promote safety procedures in coalmines. One former member of the band, trombonist Andy Cato, went on to co-found electronic music duo

Groove Armada Groove Armada are an English electronic music duo, composed of Andy Cato and Tom Findlay. They achieved chart success with their singles "At the River", " I See You Baby" and " Superstylin'". The duo have released nine studio albums, four of w ...

In films

International fame came with the film ''

'', the plot of which was based on Grimethorpe's struggles against pit closures, and whose soundtrack was recorded by the band. The band also performed Ron Goodwin's

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

for the 1976 Disney film '' Escape from the Dark'' (also called ''The Littlest Horse Thieves''), with the composer conducting.

Honours

* National Brass Band Championships – Winners 1970, 1992, 2006 and 2007. * English National Brass Band Championships – Winners 2007,"Colliery band hits top prize note"
''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

'', 1 July 2007 2008. * Yorkshire Champions – 1963, 1967, 1973, 1983, 1991, 1995, 2005, 2006. * Brass in Concert Champions – 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1986, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2001 to 2005, 2010 and 2014. * Mineworkers' Champions – 1967, 1968, 1969, 1973 to 1980, 1983, 1985 to 2002. * British Open Champions – 1969, 1984, 1991, 2015. * Granada Band of the Year – 1972, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1981, 1985.

Other events

The band represented England at the European Brass Band Championship in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

in May 2008 and came second behind the Cory Band, both on 194 points.Buffet Crampon, woodwind instruments : clarinets, professional clarinet, oboe, bassoon
In June 2008 Grimethorpe gained its second successive victory at the English National Brass Band Championships, thus qualifying to represent England once again at the European Championships in Ostende, Belgium, in 2009. The band gained further worldwide attention with its rendition of the

Olympic Hymn The Olympic Hymn ( el, Ολυμπιακός Ύμνος, ), also known as the Olympic Anthem, is a choral cantata by opera composer Spyridon Samaras (1861–1917), with lyrics by Greek poet Kostis Palamas. Both poet and composer were the choice of ...

during the

2012 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony The opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on the evening of Friday 27 July 2012 in the Olympic Stadium, London, during which the Games were formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the proce ...

in the

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

, accompanied by the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orc ...

Notable members

* Roger Webster – Former Principal Cornet * Nicholas Childs – Former Solo Euphonium * Andy Cato – Former Trombonist and co-founder of electronic music duo

Partial discography

References

External links

Official site
*

Video clips

Concierto d'Aranjuez
from the film

MacArthur Park
played at Brass in Concert 2008 at

The Sage The Sage is a forthcoming indoor arena and conference centre in Gateshead, United Kingdom due to open in Autumn 2024. The site is located between the existing Sage Gateshead venue and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art on Gateshead Quaysid ...

Grimethorpe Aria
composed for the band by Sir Harrison Birtwistle
The New Jerusalem
winning performance at the 1992 National Championships at the Royal Albert Hall
Eurovision interval show
performing at the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 {{DEFAULTSORT:Band, Grimethorpe Colliery 1917 establishments in England Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley

Mining in South Yorkshire Music in South Yorkshire

People from Grimethorpe