Believing in Brass

Go to any village festival or drop in at the local Protestant church on a Sunday morning and you're bound to hear one. And don't be surprised if many of the musicians aren't even old enough to drive.

The all-brass ensembles -- a formation that's unique to German-speaking countries -- may have been around for over a century and a half, but that doesn't stop more and more young people from taking part.

The origin of the amateur brass orchestra is closely linked to the development of the Protestant Church in Germany. After the Enlightenment movement, which focused on humanism and rationalism, the leaders of the Protestant revival movement in the mid-19th century were ready for something that spoke less to the head and more to the heart -- and the ears.

They took the call in Psalm 150 literally -- "Praise the Lord with trumpets" -- and replaced the more somber-sounding organ with the cheery sound of brass -- everything from trumpets and trombones to French horns and tubas.

Portable organs

"The brass orchestras play a key role in churches because they can open people's heart," said Bernhard Silaschi, chairman of the Protestant Brass Orchestra Service of Germany, an umbrella organization representing some 30 state and regional groups.

"Music is a bridge and you don't need many words."

As the revival movement caught on and Protestant churches outgrew their chapels, services were held outdoors or in makeshift tents. The instruments were perfectly suited for it. Tubas aren't hard to carry -- that's how they got the nickname "portable organs" -- and, best of all, brass instruments are more waterproof than violins, pianos and oboes.

Today, as German churches struggle to attract the faithful, brass orchestras seem to have no problem recruiting members.

"Amazingly, the Christian brass ensemble movement is growing," said Karsten Heger, who has directed brass orchestras for 40 years. "The ensembles don't have to worry about finding new young members." Heger estimated that there are 7,000 such ensembles in Germany with some 120,000 members.

Choir of horns

It's no accident that the German term "Posaunenchor" includes the word 'choir'. Their original aim was to mimic human voices as closely as possible, Heger said.

The brass orchestras do play swing and jazz music, but chorales are one of the "main pillars of our work," Silaschi said. Chorales, generally written for four parts, were originally intended for vocal choirs or church congregations and are a staple of Protestant church music.

Like a vocal choir, each part can be played by an unlimited number of instrumentalists -- which is a significant difference to other well-known brass formations like American army bands or British brass bands.

Just last week, several thousand musicians of all ages gathered in Essen for the annual National Brass Festival, which is sponsored by the German version of the YMCA. And at the beginning of the month, composer and trumpet player Markus Stockhausen opened the German Protestant Church Day by conducting 1,500 brass players on the banks of the Rhine River in Cologne.

True to church roots

Although over a century and a half has passed since the Protestant revival in Germany, brass orchestras have remained true to their church roots.

The network of regional and state organizations in charge of the local ensembles not only provide opportunities for musical development and performance, instrument loans and scores: leaders also take a personal interest in passing on religious values to the musicians.

"The music is important, but it's also important to know what our common foundation is," said Silaschi, who added that most rehearsals and events begin with a prayer or devotion.

Still, brass players not involved in a church are invited to participate and diversity seems to be a key element of the amateur groups.

"My youngest member is nine and the oldest is 67," Heger said of the ensemble in Wilhelmshaven that he directs. "All social groups are represented -- you'll have a doctor sitting next to a construction worker. The abilities span a wide spectrum but we reach all groups."

For the brass players, "reaching" people doesn't just mean playing a chorale at church or a swing tune in the local convalescent hospital. Silaschi recently appeared with an ensemble on the Harald Schmidt Show, one of Germany's most-watched late-night comedy shows, to advertise a major "Posaunenchor" festival planned for next year.

Click on the links below to listen to two samples from the ensemble BrassOvation from Hille in northwestern Germany, under the direction of Klaus-Peter Diehl.