BRASS band and choir enthusiasts were in seventh heaven at the Yorkshire Festival of Music in the Royal Albert Hall, London on Saturday night.

And many of them needed to be - after upsets with coach seating arrangements and a refreshment stop on the way to the capital on Friday, and some uncomfortable moments in the hall when their allocated seats just did not exist.

But the performance of Huddersfield-based European and British Open champions, Yorkshire Building Society, and Huddersfield's own Sellers International bands, and a massed, mixed choir soothed away a lot of what had happened before.

It was a tremendous concert, with magnificent playing from the bands, and some super singing from the 1,400-voice choir - the biggest ever - and none in the 6,000 audience could surely have gone away without having their "brassed off" feelings swept away as the coffers of Yorkshire Cancer Research were swelled.

The bands and choir were backed up by some splendid soloists, with the building society's soprano cornet Peter Roberts giving a brilliant performance of Silver Threads Amongst The Gold, and Honley Male Voice Choir's Norman Mellor proving he had the voice for Ol' Man River.

The concert contained many male voice favourites such as Song Of The Jolly Roger, When the Saints Go Marching In, Calm Is The Sea and Amen, while the ladies, appearing for the first time in this the sixth concert of its kind, showed their strength in As Long As I Have Music, A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square, and The Snow with violinists Isobel Dave and Jane Dennison.

The bands showed their class with Pomp and Circumstance No4, Procession to the Minster and The Light Cavalry overture, while there were pieces for both band and choir in With a Voice of Singing and Hallelujah.

The audience also had their part to play. They joined in with Florrie Forde's Favourites, Morte Cristi and the Henry Wood Proms finale, Pomp and Circumstance No1, which brought out a sea of red, white and blue flags.

There were some hiccups. The first ever performance of the choral version of the 1812 Overture, arranged by conductor William Relton and sung in Russian, didn't go smoothly. Many didn't seem to know the words - and who can blame them? - but the standing up and sitting down by the choir seemed confusing both to them and the audience.

The whole affair was nicely compered by Huddersfield's Gorden Kay, of 'Allo, 'Allo fame.

* Huddersfield choirs taking part in the Royal Albert Hall spectacular were:

Male - Colne Valley, Elland, Gledholt, Honley, New Mill and Skelmanthorpe.

Ladies - Almondbury, Denby Dale, Honley, The Pennine Singers and Penistone.

* Choir members led by Gledholt conductor Malcolm Fairless sang at Covent Garden yesterday morning to boost charity funds.