| Variations of Name | Grimethorpe Colliery Institute Band, Grimethorpe Colliery RJB, Grimethorpe Colliery (UK Coal), Grimethorpe Colliery Welfare |
| Biography | The Grimethorpe Colliery Band is a brass band, based in Grimethorpe, South Yorkshire, England. It was formed in 1917, as a leisure activity for the workers at the colliery, by members of the disbanded Cudworth Colliery Band. The band has 28 players.
The year after the band's formation saw it enter its first competition at Belle Vue in Manchester.Its first radio broadcast was in 1932 and from 1941 to 1951 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 Black Dyke Mills Band, become the first to perform at The Proms.
The band continued through the industrial troubles of the 1980s and the closure of Grimethorpe Colliery on 13 October 1992. However 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.
Since the closure of the Grimethorpe Colliery, the Band was initially sponsored by RJB Mining (later UK Coal plc) and then by Powerfuel.
The Grimethorpe Colliery Band has premiered some of the most important brass music of the twentieth century, including Sir Harrison Birtwistle's Grimethorpe Aria, written for the band, Hans Werner Henze's Ragtimes and Habaneras as well as several pieces by Sir Malcolm Arnold.
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 the 1978 Peter Skellern hit "Love is the Sweetest Thing".
International fame came with the film Brassed Off, 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 for the 1976 Disney film Escape from the Dark (also called the Littlest Horse Thieves), with the composer conducting. They also recorded some of the Beautiful South's hits in the 1996 and the tracks were given as extra tracks on the cd single issues
|