Hunting music is a bridge for friendship
The idea of closer cooperation
In 1990, an international competition for hunting horn players was held in Mariánské Lázně. Among the participants was Reinhold Stief from Germany, a leading figure in European hunting music. He later invited Petr Šeplavý and Petr Vacek to Germany, where he received the German Hunting Association's cultural award for his lifelong dedication to hunting music. It was on that occasion that the three first discussed broader cooperation among hunting horn players at the European level.
A serious illness brought Stief's involvement to a premature end, but the idea lived on. On 11 January 2008, a historic meeting took place in Třeboň, South Bohemia. Representatives of associations from Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Austria gathered to exchange information and bring Europe's hunting horn traditions closer together.
In August 2011, the participating associations met again in Chlum u Třeboně. In view of the differences in organisation and judging practices between countries, they agreed that an entirely new set of rules should be drawn up for the European Championship—simple enough to ensure that no country would be discouraged from participating. The task of drafting the rules was entrusted to Petr Vacek, a recognised expert in hunting music.
Milestones
- 1990Mariánské Lázně
An international competition of hunting horn players hosts Reinhold Stief from Germany — the first conversation about wider European cooperation begins.
- 2008Třeboň
The Czech Club of Hunting Horn Players invites Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Austria to a working seminar on shared horn traditions.
- 2011Chlum u Třeboně
Friendly clubs meet at the traditional summer course and agree to draft entirely new, simple rules for a European Championship.
- 2014Rudolfinum, Prague
The Declaration on the organisation of the European Championship is signed after the Czech Hunting Christmas concert.
- 2016Mariánské Lázně
The 1st European Championship of Hunting Horn Players takes place — symbolically, where the idea was born 25 years earlier.
The ice has melted in Prague
December 2014 brought a harsh onset of winter. Freezing rain paralysed roads and railways just three days before foreign ensembles were due to arrive to perform in the Dvořák Hall at Prague's Rudolfinum. Austria, Germany, Slovakia and Poland were all affected. With an anxious eye on the forecasts, the organisers could only hope that fate would be merciful.
And it was. The sun broke through and the roads thawed. On Sunday, 7 December, the audience filled the hall and its balconies. The sound of hunting horns was joined by fujaras and Alpine horns, the Empora sang, and when the Largo from Dvořák's New World Symphony rang through the hall, more than a few tears were shed. Regardless of nationality, the horn players and their audience spoke the same language—the language of music.
After the concert, the presidents of the hunting horn associations of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany and Poland signed the Declaration on the Organisation of the European Championship in the presence of observers from Austria. The first European Championship subsequently took place in Mariánské Lázně from 30 September to 1 October 2016.
