Saxon Trumpet Mission
The Saxon Trumpet Mission eV (SPM) is the umbrella organization of all trombone choirs of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Regional church of Saxony with seat in Dresden . With more than 6000 wind players in approx. 450 trombone choirs, it is the largest amateur music association in the Free State of Saxony .
history
At the end of the 19th century, trombone choir work - starting from Westphalia - also became a popular movement in Saxony. Many trombone choirs, the instruments of which were mostly made up of members of the bow horn family (flugelhorn, tenor horn, baritone and tuba), originated in Christian youth clubs. The umbrella organization was founded in 1897. This year the Protestant trombone choirs in Chemnitz celebrated their 1st state trombone festival, in which 14 choirs with 93 wind instruments took part.
In the same year the Saxon Trombone Choir Association was founded in Chemnitz and led by a theologian, the state trombone pastor. The Association of Inner Mission (Diakonie) was affiliated. This makes it clear that the wind instrument work was initially not understood as a branch of church music, but as a diaconal-missionary field of work. In addition to the provincial trombone pastor and the office, there was a traveling ensemble that held wind festival hours in the communities and initiated and promoted the establishment of trombone choirs.
In the first third of the 20th century, Pastor Adolf Müller shaped the Saxon trombone choir. In his "trumpet celebration hours" he created models for the interpretation of scriptures through song and music. He also gave the trombone choirs access to old and contemporary instrumental music, for example by editing the works of Johann Hermann Schein , Samuel Scheidt , Michael Praetorius , Gottfried Reiche and Johannes Pezelius.
After the deep cut of the Second World War, which also silenced some trombone choirs, many new choirs were founded. In addition to the voluntary state trombone priests, this development phase also shaped the state managing director and later state trombone warden Christoph Franke. The state sextet set standards in travel services and supervised the choirs. Girls and women also found access. The instruments changed due to the stronger preference for trumpets and trombones. Original compositions for trombone choirs were created.
The members of the regional sextet worked more and more as choir curators or trombone attendants in one region of the regional church. It was not until the mid-eighties that the ensemble stopped traveling.
While the focus in the early days was on founding new choirs, in the GDR, in addition to choir support and further training, the main focus was on procuring materials - instruments, accessories, paper quotas for sheet music, etc. The SPM is also the publisher of its own sheet music (initially through the publishing house of Regional Association of the Inner Mission, the Merseburger publishing house, the EVA and the DVfM - at the end of the GDR era also self-published).
present
After the reunification and peaceful revolution in the GDR , the SPM became a registered association in 1991 . Full-time employees today are state trombone attendant, state managing director and state trombone priest. The association is a member of the Evangelical Trumpet Service in Germany (EPiD), the Saxon Music Council and the Diakonie Sachsen .
In addition to the local trombone choirs, the SPM also organizes several wind groups, which are mainly regionally structured.
Since 2015 there has been a state youth trombone choir in which selected young people come together on a project basis.