There could have been no finer example of the pride that comes with being crowned Champions of Europe, than the sound of Cory Band Manager Austin Davies belting out the Welsh national anthem to a packed auditorium at Oslo’s Konserthus.

Delight

Backed by a lone cornet accompaniment, he wouldn’t have claimed to have had the greatest tenor voice in Treherbert, let alone Europe — but that didn’t matter at all, after his impromptu performance of a bravura rendition of ‘Mae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau’ received a wonderful show of appreciation from a delighted audience.

All a very proud and emotional Welshman cared about was that whilst he sang at the top of his voice, he was also holding the iconic European Trophy in his grasp, as Cory reconfirmed their status as the number one band in the world at the conclusion of what had been a thrilling championship contest.

Clarion call

It was also something of a unique clarion call to the Cory players to race to the stage to join in the celebrations, with conductor Philip Harper finally making his way through the throng of well wishers to raise the famous trophy in the air in triumph.

A clearly stunned MD, heaped praise on both his band and composer Philip Sparke who the band had commissioned to write their own choice work, ‘Perihelion – Closer to the Sun’.

Privilege

"I don’t think it can get any better than this," Philip said. "It’s such a privilege to be able to conduct Cory – and to play music as brilliant as Philip Sparke gave us.

I owe them both such a lot for this victory. They gave me everything I asked for and the players produced two magnificent performances. I think I may have to learn the Welsh anthem now!"

The importance of the win was not lost on their singing Band Manager either. "Philip has now made this band his own," Austin added.

"I’ve been involved with Cory for many years but this has to go down as one of our greatest victories."

Knife edge

As Cory celebrated though, the players and supporters of Eikanger Bjorsvik were left to reflect on a result that had been balanced on a knife edge all weekend.

Talking to the adjudicators after the event, it soon became apparent just how scalpel-thin that contesting blade was.

4BR was told that the three judges (Phillip McCann, Ivan Meylemans and Preben Norgoord) were implacably split between the Welsh and the Norwegians as to who should come out on top following contrasting performances of Stig Nordhagen’s engrossing set work, ‘Myth Forest’ on the Friday.

After much discussion, entrenched opinions saw Cory gain what proved to be a priceless one point margin over their rivals, with Black Dyke a further two points behind in third.

Own choice discussion

Meanwhile, it was also revealed that there was also a great deal of discussion between the trio of own choice adjudicators (Garry Cutt, Arsene Duc, Cathrine Winnes Trevino) as to the margin of victory between Eikanger and Cory on the Saturday.

Only a majority vote ensured the Norwegians beat their rivals by just a single point with their performance of ‘Spiriti’, with Brass Band Buizingen in third.

On such small margins are major championships won – and with Cory and Eikanger tied on 191 points, the European title headed back to the valleys of the Rhondda rather than to fjords of Hordaland.

Gracious

Although disappointed by missing out on a third title on home soil, supporters of Eikanger (who were once again followed by a television crew from their national broadcasting corporation), were gracious in defeat.

Former soprano star Frode Ryland told 4BR. "Our congratulations of course go to Cory, but we couldn’t have done anything more. The result shows just how close we came, but not close enough.

I felt we played superbly on the set work and did enough on our own choice – but it wasn’t to be. Perhaps our luck will change in Scotland next year."

Back to Birmingham

For Black Dyke, an appearance in Perth will now depend on the Queensbury band winning the English National title in Birmingham next month, after they ended third overall.

A brace of powerful performances, especially on their own choice selection of Edward Gregson’s ‘Symphony in Two Movements’ gained widespread approval in the hall, with principal cornet Richard Marshall claiming the ‘Best Instrumentalist’ award for his superb playing.

However, both sets of judges were not as impressed, placing them third on the Friday and fourth on the Saturday, to leave them five points behind their rivals overall.

High class low countries

The contest also saw further confirmation of the high class competitive quality of banding in the European Low Countries of Belgium and Holland, with Brass Band Buizingen and Brass Schoonhoven coming fourth and fifth.

Buizingen’s pulsating performance of Nigel Clarke’s, sci-fi inspired ‘When World’s Collide’ certainly provided the talking point of the own choice section on Saturday, whilst Schoonhoven’s lyrical interpretation of the set work on the Friday saw many people tip them as a real contender for the title too.

Contrasts

Two contrasting performances from the Swiss of Brass Band Fribourg (especially with their own choice rendition of ‘Spiriti’) saw them pip Leyland to sixth place, who gave the world premiere of Peter Meechan’s ‘Fragile Oasis’.

Meanwhile, the French representatives of Paris Brass Band gave a startling indication of their rapidly emerging potential in coming eighth, gaining a deserved standing ovation for their evocative playing of their own choice selection of ‘Audivi Media Nocte’.

Rebuilding

Just a little further back in the overall classifications came Windcorp from Sweden, who choose to play an intriguing own choice work by their own principal cornet player Henrik Glanneskog entitled ‘Sequences’.

The remaining two places were taken by bands in something of a process of European rebuilding, with Brass Band Oberosterreich under the direction of Hans Gansch (who also took the opportunity to play cornet in the opening quartet of ‘Extreme Makeover’) ending tenth, with Lyngby Taarbaek who produced a brace of solid performance over both days in eleventh.

They gave me everything I asked for and the players produced two magnificent performances. I think I may have to learn the Welsh anthem now!Cory MD, Philip Harper

Results:

Adjudicators:
Set work: Phillip McCann, Ivan Meylemans, Preben Norgoord
Own Choice: Adjudicators: Garry Cutt, Arsene Duc, Cathrine Winnes Trevino

Test piece: 'Myth Forest' (Stig Nordhagen)
(Draw): Set Work/Own Choice = Total

1. Cory (Philip Harper) (5/2): 95/96 = 191 pts
Perihelion – Closer to the Sun (Philip Sparke)

2. Eikanger-Bjorsvik Musikklag (Prof David King): (8/4) 94/97 = 191pts
Spiriti (Thomas Doss)

3. Black Dyke (Dr Nicholas Childs): (10/5) 92/94 = 186pts
Symphony in Two Movements (Edward Gregson)

4. Brass Band Buizingen (Luc Vertomenn): (3/10) 89/95 = 184pts
When World’s Collide (Nigel Clarke)

5. Brass Band Schoonhoven (Erik Jansen): (2/6) 91/91 = 182pts
From Ancient Times (Jan van der Roost)

6. Brass Band Fribourg (Frederic Theodoloz): (9/7) 90/92 = 182pts
Spiriti (Thomas Doss)

7. Leyland (Michael Bach): (6/9) 88/93 = 181pts
Fragile Oasis (Peter Meechan)

8. Paris Brass Band (Florent Didier): (1/1) 87/90 = 177pts
Audivi Media Nocte (Oliver Waespi)

9. Windcorp Brass Band (Alexander Hanson) (11/3) 85/88 = 173pts
Sequences (David Glanneskog)

10. Brass Band Oberosterreich (Hans Gansch): (4/11) 83/89 = 172pts
Extreme Makeover (Johan de Meij)

11. Lyngby-Taarbaek (Selmer Simonsen): (7/8) 84/87 = 171pts
The Promised Land (Kenneth Downie)

Solo Prize: Richard Marshall, (Cornet) — Black Dyke