Towards the Sun

Anton Ulbrich was born in the vicinity of Jablonec (Czech Republic) and was confronted with music already at an early age, and learned to play several instruments then. When he was 20 years old, Ulbrich was drafted into the band of the 44th (Czechoslovak) Infantry Regiment No. 44 in Liberec. Here Staff Captain Potuzník proved to be an experienced and sensitive mentor for him. After that period he played in the orchestra of the municipal theater in Jablonec and was finally drafted into the German Army in 1940. In those years Teplice, Dresden – also performing under the demanding Staff Director of Music (Captain) Max Feiereis – Southern France, Russia, and Romania were stages of his musical army career.

In addition to his military duties, Ulbrich performed as a theater musician in Dresden and also continued his studies at the Conservatory of Music there. He finally became a prisoner-of-war in Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost sate of Germany. As a consequence of life in post-war Germany, he eventually settled down in Burgau in 1948. Soon after he conducted a number of bands in that area, and then took over the Giengen City Band in 1961 which he directed for the next twenty years.

Musicians who performed under Ulbrich describe him as an endearing, modest man who was a full-blooded musician through and through. He worked for and reached musical goals with most of his bands in a very personal way. Something sensed as missing almost painfully later on. As a composer, he left behind two masses and several operettas next to overtures, fantasies, dances and marches.

His stirring marches are often recognizable by their Germano-Bohemian melodic line which his the essential stylistic feature. These characteristics clearly stand out in his lively march "Der Sonne entgegen" (Towards the Sun).