Concord Brass Band made it four consecutive wins in a row at the Danish National Championship in Aarhus on the weekend.
It was the band's seventh title success since 2009, as led by MD Jesper Juul Windahl they secured a clear margin of victory over rivals Lyngby Taarbaek with Arhus Brass in third.
They will now be invited to represent the nation at the 2020 European Championships in Palanga where on this form they will be confident of making a strong impression.
Psyche
The band set out their stall with an excellent Friday evening performance of the set-work, 'Psyche' by Ludovic Neurohr, before sealing victory the next day with their own-choice selection of Philip Sparke's 'Cambridge Variations'.
Speaking to 4BR, adjudicator Mike Kilroy (who was joined by Patrik Randefalk and Michael Fowles) said that the musicianship shown by the winners was "outstanding".
"I've been coming here since 2016 and the standard has been getting better and better, especially in terms of overall musicianship. The winners were outstanding in that respect; so well led on both the set-work and their own-choice.
It was so good to hear, and not just with the winners, with the best bands playing works that suited their musical strengths as well as technique."
Delighted
Reflecting on those comments, Concord's solo euphonium Steffen Maersk was understandably delighted.
"That was so good to hear from such an experienced adjudicator,"he said.
"'Psyche' was a very difficult test, but so was our choice of 'Cambridge Variations' — a work that asked a great deal of us as an ensemble. That's what we wanted to show, and it enabled us to come top of both elements of the contest for the first time."
Mini battle
That was certainly the case as despite giving fine performances over the two days, two high quality rivals in former champions Lyngby and Arhus were left in their wake — locked in a mini-battle between themselves over the two legs.
That was eventually resolved by Lyngby's fine rendition of 'Bipolarity' by Stijn Aertgeerts that just pipped their rival's performance of 'The 39th Parallel' by Peter Graham with hard working renditions from FDF Christianshavn Brass Band and Nordvestjysk Brass Band behind.
Division titles
In the First Division there was a first National title success for Skanderborg Brass Band led by Michelle Rakers.
Their performances of 'Connotations' plus their own-choice of 'Cry of the Mountain' by Howard Lorriman saw them top both disciplines of the event to beat 2017 winner Dania Brass Band with defending champion Hinnerup Garden in third.
Hvidovre Musikskoles Brass Band conducted by Bo Fuglsang continued their impressive progression as a contest outfit as they claimed the Second Division title.
Having won the Third Division in 2016 and coming third and then runner-up in the last two years at this level, they finally claimed success by the narrowest of margins over defending champion Danfoss Orkestret — with the higher points claimed on the set-work 'Sinfonietta: The Town Beneath the Cliff' ultimately proving crucial.
Danfoss topped the own-choice element with their performance of 'The Land of the Long White Cloud' but the new champion's performance of 'Music for a Festival' was just good enough. Third place went to the newly promoted Greve Pigegarde.
In the Third Division there was victory for Aalborg Post Orkester as their performances of the set-work, 'La Viuda Negra' by Carl Wittrock and their own-choice selection of Philip Harper's 'Olympus' saw them secure their first National title success from rivals FDF Aarhus Musikkreds and FDF Gladsaxe Brass Band.
It was the band's seventh title success since 2009, as led by MD Jesper Juul Windahl they secured a clear margin of victory over rivals Lyngby Taarbaek with Arhus Brass in third4BR
Results:
Championship Division:
Adjudicators: Patrik Randefalk, Mike Kilroy, Michael Fowles
Set work/Own choice = total
1. Concord Brass Band (Jesper Juul Windahl): 96.0/96.0 = 96.0
2. Lyngby-Taarbaek (Erik Janssen): 92.3/94.3 = 93.3
3. Arhus Brass Band (Michael Thomsen): 92.7/92.7 = 92.7
4. FDF Christianshavn Brass Band (Andras Olsen): 90.0/91.0 = 90.5
5. Nordvestjysk Brass Band (Huw Thomas): 88.0/88.0 = 88.0
First Division:
Adjudicators: Patrik Randefalk, Mike Kilroy, Michael Fowles
Set work/Own choice = total
1. Skanderborg Brass Band (Michelle Rakers): 90.0/92.0 = 91.0
2. Dania Brass Band (Dennis Aaberg Andersen): 88.0/91.0 = 89.5
3. Hinnerup Garden (Anne Mette Tilsted Hansen): 86.0/89.0 = 87.5
4. Frederiksberg Brass Band (Mikkel Amsinck): 85.0/90.0 = 87.5
Second Division:
Adjudicators: Stanley Westh, Niels-Ole Bo Johansen, Steven Drury
Set work/Own choice = total
1. Hvidovre Musikskoles Brass Band (Bo Fuglsang): 92.7/89.0 = 90.8
2. Danfoss Orkestret (Gert Skovlod Hattesen): 91.3/90.3 = 90.8
3. Greve Pigegarde (Mathias Snejbjerg): 88.3/86.7 = 87.5
4. Svogerslev Brass Band (Henrik Lutzen): 88.7/85.3 = 87.0
Third Division:
Adjudicators: Stanley Westh, Niels-Ole Bo Johansen, Steven Drury
Set work/Own choice = total
1. Aalborg Post Orkester (Henrik Juul-Brinkmann): 92.7/92.3 = 92.5
2. FDF Aarhus Musikkreds (Simon Kjaergaard): 91.0/92.0 = 91.5
3. FDF Gladsaxe Brass Band (Carl Viggo Jespersen): 89.7/88.3 = 89.0
4. Senex Brass Band (Boris Kertsman): 87.0/88.0 = 87.5
5. Brass Band Da Capo: (Lars Peder Sorensen): 88.7/86.0 = 87.4
6. Sejs Blaeserne (Jan Norgaard): 86.3/85.0 = 85.7
