Pastor emeritus Chris Johannes, Wartburg, Kirchdorf
(This speech has been shortened by the editors and is available in full length in German on the FELSISA website)
“Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Hallelujah!” – Psalm 150
“Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvellous things! With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord!” – Psalm 98:1+6
These Words of God are intended to remind us that we humans have every reason to praise God. This praise of God should not only be expressed with our voices, but also with instruments of all kinds. The praise of God is part of the divine service, just like prayer, the sermon and the sacraments.
With this in mind, the brothers P. Louis and P. Theodor Harms gave our Lutheran forefathers two important things to take along with them to the mission field in Africa around 1854, namely the Word of God and praise to God through the music of the brass choirs!
We find Psalm 150:3 and Psalm 98:1+6 written as mottos above the statutes of our Brass Band Association. This is a sure sign that the praise of God was still taken seriously 100 years ago, in 1924, when our Brass Band Association was founded. Praising God, that is our ministry! In carrying out this ministry, the brass bands should also help us, alongside the organs, the congregational singing and the choirs, together with many other musical instruments.
When we look at brass bands, it is important to realise that brass music as we know it today is one of the youngest forms of praise to God in the Christian church. Although there is already mention of blowing on ram’s horns in the Old Testament, for example in the temple, it was never possible to play the full scales in the various keys on such horns.
Even in the world of sacred choral and orchestral music, e.g. with JS Bach, there were trumpets that were all fundamentally tied to one key, which was determined by their length. They did not yet have valves or holes, as was the case with flutes. The notes that were played in the high overtone series of the natural trumpets had to be intonated with the lips in order to play a clean series of consecutive notes as a scale. This was a fine art that made trumpet playing very complicated and exclusive. Only very few could manage it. These trumpets were therefore definitely not suitable for use in brass bands!
The first brass instruments that made it possible to play complete scales in the lower registers and in all keys were the slide trombones. This is why they were built in all sizes, from the small treble trombone for the soprano voice to the contrabass trombone. As the treble trombone is unfortunately still very difficult to play today, it never really caught on as a choral instrument. Nevertheless, four-part songs could be played by such trombone quartets or choirs.
The Count von Zinzendorf was probably the first to introduce this principle into church and worship use in his Moravian Brethren congregation around 1730. When the revivalist movements gained momentum in Germany at the beginning of the 19th century, the use of brass bands in church services soon became a general trend.
By then, important progress had been made in the further development of the trumpet. It gradually became possible for amateurs to play these instruments. There were now so-called keyed trumpets, which, like clarinets and saxophones, made it possible to play lower scales. Experiments with valves for trumpets began in 1815, particularly in Berlin. It was not until around 1885 that the generally usable trumpet as we know it today was finally developed. Since then, it has been possible to play all scales with just 3 valves. This last step meant and helped a great deal in the development of the brass bands. Finally, this system with three or four valves was transferred to the tenor and bass instruments.
But there was still a problem! At the beginning, the trumpet players had to transpose all notes. They therefore played one note higher according to the piano notation. With Harms, they then had to rethink in order to play everything a note lower. This was the only way they could play together with the lower voices.
The history of our Brass Band Association began in 1849 at the missionary seminary in Hermannsburg, Germany. Pastor Theodor Harms, who himself had learnt to play from an old hunter, had founded a brass choir with the 12 men from the first group of theology students. Initially they played on keyed trumpets! Through this choir, which P. Louis Harms then took with him to his missionary festivals to accompany the singing, the playing of chorales and other sacred music spread very quickly across the Lüneburg Heath. Many choirs gradually developed from this.
Thanks to the ongoing brass work at the missionary seminary in Germany, most of the missionaries and colonists who came to South Africa were able to play. They played their instruments often and gladly at their new location in Hermannsburg, South Africa since 1854. Later, as the missionary work spread, choirs came together in the newly founded congregations. In our midst, for example, the choir in Lüneburg was founded in 1883. In 1885 the choir in Kirchdorf was founded, and in 1897 the choir in Uelzen. In 1909, after the 2nd Boer War, the choir in Wittenberg followed. These were the choirs that were involved in the first Brass Band Festival in 1924.
When we consider the history of our origins, we should not forget that we, together with the NELCSA, LCSA and ELCSA associations, emerged from the Hermannsburg missionary movement. Therefore, we can and should recognise each other and promote cooperation among ourselves.
I would like to correct a misunderstanding that I realised when reading The History of our Brass Choirs, Volume 2. From the very beginning, our history had nothing to do with either P. Eduard Kuhlo or his son, P. Johannes Kuhlo, and their brass work in Minden/Ravensberg in Westphalia, Germany.
However, Pastor Johannes Kuhlo had a significant influence on our work. Firstly, he brought us from the military notation to the piano notation, and we were thus able to use the notes of the organ easily. Secondly, he compiled an extensive repertoire of music and left us a legacy on which we gratefully build.
By God’s grace, the association has enjoyed good growth since 1950. From the initial 4 choirs, we have become 14 choirs. 93 brass band festivals have already been celebrated. Due to the Second World War and Covid, we were unable to celebrate any brass band festivals for 7 years. In the early years, these festivals – where we could praise the Lord together – led to the synod members getting to know each other and to synodical unanimity.
Our mission and our ministry of praising God still stands firm! May God grant that this jubilee celebration remind us that our praise of God is not only reserved for Sunday, but that it is also meant for all days of the week. May we all participate more actively!
