The 36th Swiss National Brass Band Championship takes place this weekend at the Music and Convention Center in Montreux.
Follow the link below for an overview and introduction to the event from 4BR Editor Iwan Fox.
http://www.4barsrest.com/articles/2010/1192.asp
29th November:
An early morning wake up call and breakfast with Garry Cutt, Simon Dobson and Alan Edmond before the long trip home.
We are missing Peter Meechan who left late last night to fly to America still on a high after the reception his new work received.
The Swiss loved it, even if some didn’t quite understand the background story – a British version of William Tell as one, admittedly slightly inebriated, local told us.
Garry and Simon shot off for their early flight, whilst Alan Edmond was left to try and find a new way home after finding out that Edinburgh airport was closed due to snow. He may be still here in Montreux until the Europeans next May if the weather in Scotland doesn’t improve.
I can think of worst places to be stranded for sure though.
As for 4BR? With a bit of time to kill before the flight to Heathrow and home, time to reflect on a wonderfully presented championships – all played out against the most stunning back drop imaginable for a band contest.
We will definitely be coming back here again and again – despite the fact that a round of drinks can put you in more debt trouble than Ireland.
Lovely people, a brilliant venue, tremendous organisation (EBBA declared that they were so impressed they could hold the European Championships next week here) great music and scenery to brighten the most jaded of well travelled eyes.
The Europeans are here in a just a few months time, with the Winter snow replaced by the blazing Summer sun.
Save up and make the trip. You will not be disappointed.
28th November:
The calm after the night before.
An early start at the Montreux Convention Centre where the final day of the championships was taken up with the elite Swiss bands battling it out for domestic glory and European qualification.
The format mimics the European event: Set work technicalities in the morning, own choice grand slammers in the afternoon.
Paul McGhee’s test piece proved to be much less of a pain than its title suggested – in fact it made for very enjoyable listen. As contemporary works go, it was fresh and intriguing but by no means so left field it made you wonder if the blowing out of spit from instruments was part of the performance.
The best bands made the best fist of it – with Burgermusik Luzern and Treize Etoiles the pick under Michael Bach and James Gourlay.
The young Bach is some talent (he won the First Section on Saturday with his other band) – a conductor of passion and precision, elegance and determination. His father is the remarkable Markus Bach, the father figure of the banding movement in the country, whilst his older brother Philippe is regarded as one of the brightest young orchestral conducting talents in Europe.
Michael is certainly a chip off the same musical block. Top UK bands should seek him out, and quick.
Oh — and old Jim Boy was back to his brilliant best too with the winners. Age never wearies a class act.
The afternoon session was played out with a peculiar British flavour – with two cracking world premieres of works from Peter Meechan and Martin Ellerby that gave Luzern and Treize Etoiles all the ammunition they needed to slug it out for the title.
Neither pieces were what you would have expected, but both were stunners that really resonated in the packed Stravinski auditorium.
At their conclusion the audience rose to their feet to applaud – not just the bands, but also the two composers. Band Managers and contest organisers need to hear Martin’s ‘Genesis’ and Peter’s ‘The Legend of King Arthur’ and get them picked for contests.
With typical Swiss efficiency the awards ceremony was quick and to the point – with the delightful Arian Brun declaring the results in both French and German (just two of the five official languages spoken here)..
Treize Etoiles was declared champion for a record 12th time, whilst James Gourlay claimed his 6th title, much to his obvious delight. Then the party began with the Swiss, not usually noted for displays of emotional celebration, letting their hair down in fine fashion.
It soon became a very late night once again.
27th November:
Contest time.
A full day at the Montreux Music & Convention Centre; a monument to efficient no nonsense Swiss architecture and heartfelt love of high quality music making.
The morning was taken up with the opportunity to listen to some of the 58 competitors, starting with the real grass roots of Swiss banding in the Miles Davis Hall.
Seven Fourth Section bands played Mario Burki’s enjoyable musical story of a light aircraft ride over the Alps, appropriately entitled, ‘Flight’. It was very descriptive stuff – complete with innovative storm and rain effects that required the players to click fingers and blow air into valve tops to mimic the little Cessena plane’s battle against the mountainous elements. It’s a piece that would go down a treat with young players in the UK.
The standard of the bands was comparable to the Fourth Section in the UK, with plenty of talented youngsters on stage. All of them gave it a real go, with Ste de Musique l’Avenir Lignieres under the direction of Vincent Baroni producing a cracking winning performance.
Elsewhere, the 11 Third Section bands had a great time on Michael Ball’s ‘A Cambrian Suite’, whilst Simon Dobson certainly won a host of new fans with his evocative ‘Penlee’ in the Second Section.
However, the real interest came with the First Section bands tackling Thomas Trachsel’s trip to the dark side with his test piece ‘Macabre’, which seemed to combine elements of Berlioz, Bliss and Edgar Allen Poe. Full of menace, the score most probably was bound in studded leather with accompanying flick knife and knuckle duster.
With the action over it was time for the results, which the Swiss presented with aplomb — all high tech and transparent, and all played out in a wonderful atmosphere of collective appreciation.
There was just enough time to grab a quick snack before it was back to the hall for the evening Gala Concert which featured the reigning Swiss champion Brass Band Valaisia and Brass Band Oberosterreich.
It was a concert that took its time to warm up, but when it did, thanks mainly to the brilliance of Lito Fontana. It takes some player to outshine Hans Gansch, but the Argentine trombonist did just that with a quite stunning display of his amazing gifts.
All that remained was to enjoy some Montreux nightlife before an early start for Sunday’s Championship Section decider – which comes with a health warning to your wallet. Even local bar prices away from the plush hotels make you wince in monetary horror. It makes you appreciate just what you are drinking, that’s for certain.
Friday 26th November:
As you would expect, the Swiss are sticklers for time.
Catching a flight from Heathrow to Geneva by Swissair meant the wheels of the plane left the tarmac in London almost to the second of the time stamped on your ticket. Touchdown was the same.
Those of you wishing to make the trip here for the European Championships next May should make a bee line for Geneva and then catch the train, which snakes around the outline of Lake Leman (Lake Geneva) all the way to Montreux. It’s clean and quiet and also leaves bang on time.
Pretty villages full of chocolate box houses and vineyards cling to the lakeside, whilst across the shimmering grey expanse of the lake stand the magnificent snow topped Alps. It knocks the trip up the M6 to Preston Guild Hall into a top hat.
A first class open return ticket is around 100 Francs (about £70) and allows you to take in the full glory of the stunning scenery. It about an hour and ten minutes before you stop at Montreux itself.
The city reminds you very much of Bergen in Norway; distinguished and modern, with the steep sided mountain backdrop hemming it close to the shoreline. Meanwhile, the lakeside Montreux Music & Convention Centre, where the 36th Swiss Championships take place provides a wonderful venue for the two day competition. The Stravinski auditorium is a cracker – as wide as Lake Leman but with an acoustic that precise as a Tag Heuer stopwatch.
The Swiss organisers are also sticklers for time too – the programme for the two days runs with the accuracy of a Rolex watch, whilst the welcome is warm and friendly from hotel staff to the people selling the programmes. Everyone we met was multi lingual, professional, respectful, and very helpful – even if they did have trouble with my fast talking Welsh accent.
Friday night was rounded off with an informal dinner hosted by the Swiss organising committee, which allowed guests to meet and talk with the judges, composers (although unfortunately Paul McGhee was unable to attend due to him breaking his ankle just a few days before the event – although with typical Swiss efficiency the organisers were going to provide an internet link to him at home so he could witness the action from the top section contest) and swap opinions and stories and generally find out more about the two days ahead.
The first caveat to remember though is the price of things here – especially at the bar in hotels: A round of drinks equates to the GDP of a small African nation.
Bring money with you if you want to enjoy yourselves – it ain’t cheap. It makes buying beer even in Norway seem like a cash and carry trip to your hometown Aldi supermarket.
Still, with friends to talk too – including fellow Brits, Garry Cutt, Simon Dobson, Alan Edmond and Nigel Boddice, gossip and rumour to enjoy and plenty of great stories (Nigel Boddice in particular) a long first day in the land of the cantons ended in the small hours.
Saturday, and a full day of contesting to enjoy beckoned.
Well fed, well informed and well drained of funds, a tired 4BR Editor made his weary way to his hotel just a stone’s throw from the contest venue and into the arms of Morpheus, by chance to catch a few well earned hours of sleep.
Further details are available at the SBBV website: http://www.brass.ch/sbbv/index.htm
