Last updated: 3-May-2006
The B Section once more produced a
winning performance of the rarest class. It was a fantastic musical experience
for everyone there, but it did make it a bit of a problem for the contest.
Anyone who had been in
Hannes Buchegger enjoys the
winning feeeling once more with Florian
Klingler and Irish mascot
For any concert promoters looking to put bums on seats at an event, the
Austrian band deserve serious consideration; they blend high quality
music-making together with entertainment and they have the capabilities to
tailor their programmes to any specific occasion.
Their level of performance on the day meant that the Austrians won by five
clear points, and its not being disrespectful to any other band in the contest,
but it could and should have been an even bigger gap. As brilliant as Brass Band Oberösterreich
were, from this reviewers perspective, one can only have sympathy for the other
competing bands such was the gulf in class as the contest wasn't a level plain
field – in fact it was more of a ski slope.
Hans Gansch wows
the audience with his brand of brilliance
The point has to be made that the winners were far too
good for the section as a whole. They really should compete
in the Championship Section – food for thought for the band and those who make
the decisions within EBBA, although the band has made it clear that due to
their personnel make up (they include many of the finest professional musicians
from Austria and Germany), they have no appetite or enthusiasm for playing
extended brass band test pieces. One of their most respected members who
listened to the own choice works from the bands later in the day just shook his
head and wondered where the music was.
The ‘B' Section contest isn't just about performing
a test piece, it's an own choice programme of around
twenty minutes of which the set work is an integral part. This year's set
work came from the pen of Elaine Agnew and was entitled ‘Little Christmas' – the title referring
to the events of the 6th January 1839 when a storm occurred in
The quirks of the draw meant that it was Brassband
Oberösterreich from
Having performed the most persuasive interpretation of the test piece, that
was full of dramatic contrast and full of imagination by the MD and his
players, soprano player, Florian Klingler
produced some supreme playing in Sparke's ‘Capriccio'. If the audience thought that
was impressive, their jaws literally hit the floor as Hans Gansch
stepped forward to give a snorter of a performance on
trumpet in ‘Born on the 4th of July'.
It was mind blowing brilliance. Victory was long
since secured but the band once again showed versatility in ‘Funky Brass' a brilliant showcase where
the players could show off their awesome versatility. Victory completed win
number six at this event for conductor Hans Buschegger.
It may have been easy, but by heck, he gave us all a right royal treat.
Torshavn Brass Band
from the
They seemed at their most comfortable with Aagaard-Nilsen's
‘Artic Funk' and two movements
from ‘Hymn of the Highlands'
with some nice euphonium playing in ‘Summer
Isles' although ‘Dundonnell' seemed to stretch them a little
bit. They were well worthy of second place on the day though.
The representatives from
Laganvale Band under Ernest Ruddock played
well to come in third place. They took a while to settle and seemed a
little tense in the opening ‘Prelude on Tallis', but their finest moments came from
their soprano player in ‘Gethsemane'
who produced a very high class performance indeed. Having given what was
the most convincing performance (at that point) of the set work, the Northern
Irish band gave to steady performances of music brought into mainstream brass
band circles by YBS, of 'Vitae Lux' and 'Shine
as the Light'.
Arklow Shipping Silver
Band under
This was a very enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours on Saturday
morning; the winners were fantastic and it would be interesting to see how the
band would fair in the higher section, let alone a contest such as Brass in
Concert?
As one seasoned campaigner said afterwards about the winners; ‘You'll be
lucky if you hear playing of that standard this afternoon in the Championship
Section' – they weren't far wrong either, and if they appear in Birmingham in
2007 in what ever section, make sure you listen. It's
a real musical experience, it really is.
Malcolm Wood