The second German Open Brass Band Championship took place recently as part of the Sachsischen Landesblasmusikfest in the Saxony town of Grimma near Leipzig.

The section competitions took place at the Soziokulturelles Zentrum in partnership with the Confederation of German Music Associations (BDMV) and the Saxony Brass Band Association (SBMV).

Schwaben victory

The main Championship Section (Category 5) contest was won by Brass Band Schwaben conducted by Benjamin Markl. They gained revenge for losing out to rivals Brass Band Schwaben at the German National Championships last year by claiming a narrow single point victory.

Well delivered renditions of their chosen set-work, 'Oceans' by Goff Richards (the other available was 'Hymn of the Highlands' Suite by Peter Graham) and their own-choice of 'Paganini Variations' caught the ear of judges Herman Pallhuber and Stefan Fritzen to end just ahead of Sachsen, who made such a fine impression in the Challenge Section at the recent European Championship in Freiburg.

On this occasion however, their twin performances of their Peter Graham set-work choice and Eric Ball's 'Resurgam' wasn't good enough claim a second Open title following 2013's First Section victory.

Encouraging

The highly encouraging overall standard of the German contender's performances was shown with Amsterdam Brass, who was runner-up in the Dutch National Championship in 2014, only managing to come fourth, behind another emerging German band in Brass Band A7.

Speaking directly to 4BR, their spokesperson Stefan Berger was delighted with the band's performance and development.

"We are working hard to improve all the time,"he said. "The victory was very good for the band, especially as we wanted to play 'Paganini Variations'. We were all very happy with our performance and enjoyed our celebrations!"

First Division

In the First Division there was a first major contest victory for Brass Band Regensburg (pictured above).

Conducted by Christine Hartmann, they gave impressive performances of their chosen set work of Percy Fletcher's 'Labour and Love' and their own-choice selection of 'Purcell Variations' by Kenneth Downie.

Their spokesperson Dr Matha Paper told 4BR: "Winning the German Open is a really great achievement for the band of which we are very proud. After years of continuous working it seems we are on the right pathway and are very proud to have reached this step.

The development of the band has been quite remarkable in recent years. Under the dedicated work of Christine Hartmann and regular guidance of Dave Lea of the Jaguar Land Rover Band we are progressing all the time with a promising future."

German development

That was something Dave himself was keen to focus on with all the bands at the contest.

"It's amazing to think that it will be just ten years since things started to take off in Germany,"he said.

"I've been very fortunate to see and hear the progress made over that period of time first hand. Now the future looks very bright with all the bands here on the weekend showing such a desire to improve and develop with an appreciation of traditional brass band musical values.

I think people heard the first competitive signs of what is being achieved at the recent European Championships, and if this event is anything to go by, the future looks to be very bright. The standard of playing is improving rapidly all the time."

Brass Band St. Stephan Hamburg conducted by Jorn Rolapp was the only entrant in the Second Division.

The victory was very good for the band, especially as we wanted to play 'Paganini Variations'. We were all very happy with our performance and enjoyed our celebrations!Stefan Berger,Brass Band Schwaben

Results:

Championship Section:
(Category 5):
Test Piece Choices: 'Oceans' (Goff Richards or 'Hymn of the Highlands (Peter Graham)

1. Brass Band Schwaben (Benjamin Markl) — 91
2. Brass Band Sachsen (Eoin Tonner) — 90
3. Brass Band A7 (Jonny Ekkelboom) — 86
4. Amsterdam Brass (Pierre Volders) — 82

First Section:
(Category 4)
Test Piece Choices: Inspiration (Jan de Haan) or Labour & Love (Percy Fletcher)

1. Brass Band Regensburg (Christine Hartmann) — 93
2. Badische Brass Band (Dominik Koch) — 92
3. Norbayerische Brass Band (Mathias Wehr) — 87
4. Brass Band B10 (Joachim Rath) — 84
5. Brass Band B4 (Thomas Eckert) — 81

Second Section:
(Category 3)
Test Piece Choices: Dakota (Jacob de Haan) or Sound of Brass (Roy Newsome)

1. Brass Band St. Stephan Hamburg (Jorn Rolapp) — 84