On the occasion of his 80th birthday, Konrad Plaickner dedicated this sparkling march to the “forefather” of South Tyrolean wind music, Sepp Thaler, which challenges all registers of the wind orchestra.

The fanfare-like introduction, alternating between high and low registers, is followed by an immediately catchy first part. Striking countermelodies in the horn section are followed by an imposing bass solo in the second part, which already hints at the new tonal language of the then 43-year-old composer. The lyrical and quiet trio section is interrupted out of the blue by a forte downward sequence in the low brass, trumpet signals and a drum roll: the Andreas Hofer song is intoned, interrupted by trombone interjections leading to the final section. In the repetition, a three-part, sweet-sounding ornamentation is heard in the flute register before the march ends with a da capo.

A pearl of South Tyrolean compositional art and modern tonal language, which already set accents in the 1980s and has lost none of its effervescence.