Composition Competition

Intention and Music Historical Background

The Donaueschingen Music Days of 1926 still represent a significant milestone in the early German wind music scene. On the initiative of Paul Hindemith, who had been involved in the programmatic design of the Music Days since 1922, composers were invited to create “utility music for wind orchestra.” The aim was to provide the emerging amateur wind music scene in Germany with its own original concert wind music.

Ultimately, four works premiered in 1926: “Three Marches for Military Orchestra, Op. 44” by Ernst Krenek, “Game for Wind Orchestra, Op. 39” by Ernst Toch, “Little Serenade for Wind Orchestra” by Ernst Pepping, and “Concert Music for Wind Orchestra, Op. 41” by Paul Hindemith. Hans Gál withdrew his “Promenade Music for Military Orchestra” at short notice.

The successes of wind orchestra composers in England certainly served as a model for this endeavor. Composers such as Percy Aldridge Grainger, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Gustav Holst created symphonic original works for wind orchestra with high artistic standards in the first decades of the 20th century. Holst’s Suites in E-flat and F, Grainger’s “Lincolnshire Posy,” and Vaughan Williams’ “English Folk Song Suite” gained early recognition and popularity and remain classics in the international wind orchestra repertoire to this day.

The recipe for success of these compositions lay partly in the rejection of exaggerated late Romantic expressiveness, Impressionism, and Expressionism, and partly in the explicit use of folkloric melodies, folk-like musical characteristics, and widely known folk songs. This resulted in a musically demanding but broadly accessible musical language.

In contrast to the works of the English composers, the works premiered in Donaueschingen in 1926 did not establish themselves. The compositions were simply too difficult for amateur orchestras, and their musical language followed the avant-garde movement that was predominant in Germany at the time. Thus, they did not appeal to the general public. Ultimately, the rise of the Nazis prevented any reasonable engagement or further development.

To mark the 100th anniversary of the Donaueschingen Brass Music Concert, the Baden-Württemberg Brass Music Association (BVBW) is holding a composition competition and commissioning the Baden-Württemberg State Wind Orchestra (LBO) to perform the winning composition in the anniversary year 2026. The composition competition is sponsored by the Kinderland Baden-Württemberg Foundation. The aim is to take up the initiative of that time to create an independent, original concert wind band music for the German wind band scene. In contrast to 1926, however, the English approach is the inspiration: the new works should deliberately take up German folk songs, folklore and musical tradition and thus create an impulse for the German brass music scene – Donaueschingen 2.0.

Conditions of participation

General

• All living composers are eligible.
• The language of communication is either German or English.
• The duration of the composition should be between 8 and 10 minutes.
• The composition must be written for the line-up of the LBO; solo concertos will not be accepted.
• The standard of the piece should be of the highest artistic and technical level. Grade 4 of the “American Band College Music Grading Chart” is suggested. (Download Grading Chart)

Composition

• The composition should incorporate and musically process German folk songs, folklore, and musical traditions. This material should be an essential component and musical starting point of the new composition. Simply stringing together melodies in the sense of a medley is explicitly not intended.
• The composition should be composed especially for the LBO. It must not be previously published, sold or performed in any other way.

Performances and prize money

• The first performance and first recording are reserved for the LBO.
• The prize money is 3,000 €.
• The winning composition will be performed several times in the year 2026.
• Within the context of the performances, the new composition and the composer will be presented and promoted through a variety of media.

Jury

The members of the jury are

• Björn Bus (artistic director of the LBO; Member of the WASBE Board of Directors);
• Bruno Seitz (Landesmusikdirektor BVBW)
• Elias Kowalski (Musikreferent LBO).

The jury reserves the right to withhold a 1st prize.

Application process

• The composition (3 scores, printed and bound) must be sent to the LBO by September 1st 2025.
• The consignment must also include:
• an explanation of the musical realisation of the composition commission (max. 1 A4 page);
• the full score digitalised in PDF format;
• a recording of the composition (a good electronic recording, utilising high-quality acoustic instrument samples is accepted).
• On the scores, a code word should appear instead of the composer’s name. A sealed envelope should be included with the application, marked on the outside with the composer’s code word. The sealed envelope must contain the composer’s name (no pseudonym), the complete contact details and curriculum vitae of the composer’s musical career to date. Furthermore, there must be a handwritten statement included whereby, in the signing of which, the composer declares…
  • to be familiar with all conditions of participation and to accept them;
  • to have the copyright of the score;
  • that the submitted score has not been published yet;
  • to accept the indisputable decision of the jury;

Schedule

• The results will be announced on September 30th 2025.
• For the winning composition (1st prize): All parts must be provided by January 1st 2026.

Instrumentation