A European hat-trick for Cory

Rodney Newton reports on this year's European Championships in Linz

This year’s European Brass Band Championships, which took place on the stage of the impressive Brucknerhaus on the south bank of the ‘blue’ Danube (actually, from the reflection of the trees, a greenish brown) in Linz, Upper Austria, saw the bar being raised in both the A and B sections of the competition, with some bands outdoing themselves in terms of technical brilliance and accomplishment on very difficult set test works. The 30 year-old hall, modern in design, excellently maintained (its fan-shaped ‘Grosse Halle’ a copy, it would seem, of the interior of Wagner’s theatre at Bayreuth), was pleasing on both eye and ear, and a perfect venue for music making.

This year also brought the added frisson of a spirit of intense competition, with the defending title-holder, Cory Band, attempting a hat-trick and the remarkable Brass Band Oberösterreich obviously out to do its very best before a ‘home’ audience. The B Section was also of a uniformly higher standard than in recent years, with the inclusion of another ‘home team’, the fine Austrian Brass Band from the University of the Performing Arts in Graz, two bands from Germany, one from Italy, the Swedish Youth Brass Band and Töölö Brass from Finland. There were fireworks aplenty, particularly in the A Section own-choice, but ultimately it was simply musicianship and quality of sound that brought victory to successful bands in both sections.

On Friday 30 April, ten bands assembled to do battle on Thomas Doss’s formidable Spiriti, which contained enough complexities and difficulties to daunt the hardiest. However, more than one band proved equal to the task and some impressive contentions resulted. The demanding and cruelly exposed soprano cornet part was remarkably well handled by many contestants, although most exhibited a little discomfort and a few found it somewhat beyond them. The animated sections showed most bands able to cope, but it was, as on the previous two occasions, Robert Childs’ attention to detail and the clarity of texture he achieved with Cory that paid off in the final analysis. Following a painstaking study of the score and diligent rehearsal, Dr. Childs drew a performance of refinement from his Rhondda Valley players (with, it must be added, the help of one rather special Belgian soprano cornet player!).

Security characterised the atmospheric opening section of the piece, and detail continually took precedence over mere showy display and never was there any trace of overblowing nor roughness in the sound Cory produced (even in the raunchy bluesinspired section). Bert Van Thienen’s impressive soprano cornet contributions aside, the other soloists were as secure as expected, David Childs’ euphonium playing made its mark, as did his wife, Joanne’s contributions on flugel horn, Chris Thomas was characterful as ever on solo trombone and Owen Farr as reliable as expected on solo horn. The latest ‘hot seat’ appointment, principal cornet Tom Hutchinson in his first ‘European’ with the band, more than proved his worth in his solos and the final denoument was impressive and convincing. For its own-choice piece, the band had commissioned a brand new work from Philip Sparke with the intriguing title of A Tale As Yet Untold. This proved to be a three-movement partita describing the energy of youth, the optimism of youth and the power of the human spirit.