Society

Dynamics in the 80's

From Reykjavik to the Hollywood Bowl, rising concert hall scale and amplified culture reshape orchestral sound, leaving acoustic limits exposed.

By Roger Bobo

Editorial

A museum, a factory, a familiar instrument: Jean-Pierre Mathez turns ordinary encounters with brass into a reflection on the bond between player and voice.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Editorial

One magazine disappeared as another opened its pages, turning economic necessity into a rare act of editorial solidarity that reshaped the brass press.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Editorial

Mouthpiece, instrument, practice—what’s really holding you back? A reflection on doubt, competition, and finding the inner balance that shapes true musicianship.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Part 1

Does Jazz still have a soul?

By Michel Laplace

A woman trombonist, Yvelise Girard

Women and Brass

From Paris conservatories to police bands, a young trombonist confronts isolation, scrutiny and ambition as women slowly enter the brass world.

By Jean Douay

Editorial

More than a magazine: a call to musicians. This editorial reveals Brass Bulletin’s mission—to inspire, connect, and survive through the support of its readers.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Brass and Strings

A note on personality types among musicians

Behind the formal discipline of the symphony orchestra, contrasting views of brass and string players reveal enduring questions about personality, class and musical culture.

By John Davies

On record reviews

Is criticism constructive? Objective?

When taste and feeling dominate record reviews, criticism risks becoming arbitrary; Uwe Wolf argues instead for interpretations grounded enough to sustain debate.

By Uwe Wolf

The Midwinter Horn

De Midwinterhoorn

A Christmas horn tradition from eastern Netherlands preserves ancient construction, ritual and performance, linking rural practice with Leopold Mozart's Sinfonia pastorella.

By Herman Jeurissen

Women and Brass

Statements

Female brass players in British orchestras describe auditions, section dynamics and the pressure of proving themselves beyond musical ability.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Musical Piracy

Plagiarism, Photocopying

Long before digital piracy, publishers and performers were already confronting plagiarism, photocopying and blurred artistic ownership across the brass world.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Part 1

Sampling?

By Thomas Stevens

Editorial

Mass media, record-industry economics and the return of cornet virtuosity collide in a sharp warning about fashion, manipulation and musical independence.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Being a woman brass player... So what?

Frøydis Ree Wekre reflects on women in brass playing, examining physical assumptions, psychological factors, and practical realities across performance and professional life.

By Frøydis Ree Wekre

Music and Imaginative Art

By Roumen Skortchev

Serious Music this Side of the Ghetto

Between Darmstadt serialism and neo-tonality, the place of serious music in society is questioned through Berg, Schönberg and the post-war avant-garde.

By Rolf Urs Ringger

The development of the amateur wind-band repertoire in Central Europe since 1950

After 1950, Central Europe’s amateur wind bands became a testing ground where inherited traditions, modern composition, popular music and education collided.

By Wolfgang Suppan

Editorial

A life that shaped a century: Jean-Pierre Mathez introduces the extraordinary rise of Maurice André—an artist whose brilliance transformed the modern trumpet.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Thoughts on Competitions in Music

By Frøydis Ree Wekre

John Fletcher

Interview

From brass bands to chamber ensembles, John Fletcher reflects on the rapid rise of young British tubists and the changing role of the instrument.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Part 3

The Haydn Trumpet Concerto

Haydn’s trumpet concerto becomes a study of manuscript detail, performance choices, and the fragile ways listeners receive a familiar work.

By Alfred Willener

Special Hungary

Editorial

Hungary’s brass world emerges as a cultural force, where organisation, international exchange and musical ambition turn national vitality into lasting connections.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Composer Interpreter Teacher Student

Clains and demands in musical life today

What is the musician’s role today? Willi Gohl questions creation, teaching, and society—and argues for a more human, free, and living music.

By Willi Gohl