Dutch town rivalry yields world's best orchestras

But in one sphere, Thorn is not quaint at all -- or rather, it has elevated its quaintness to a very serious level. Thorn (population: 2,600) boasts two of the world's best amateur wind orchestras. The Koninklijke Harmoni and the Harmoni St. Michal are known locally as the ''bokken" (he-goats) and the ''geiten" (she-goats). In 1993, the geiten took first prize at the World Music Contest, the quadrennial amateur classical-music championships. At the next contest, in 1997, the bokken won. In 2001, neither side could attend, and the championship went to a Spanish wind orchestra. But locals consider it a victory by proxy: The Spanish orchestra's conductor, Henry Adams, hails from Thorn.

In the world of the wind orchestra, Thorn reigns supreme.

Wind orchestras are fairly common in Europe. They may be thought of as more serious versions of the American marching band, or as classical orchestras with their cellos and violins replaced by saxophones and clarinets. They can play anything from popular marches to Shostakovich symphonies. Wind orchestras are especially popular in Limburg and in the Spanish province of Valencia; there are more than 250 in Limburg alone.

But Thorn's bokken and geiten are more than just musical societies. They're more like rival clans. Every family in town belongs to one side or the other, and membership is hereditary. The schism dates to 1863, when the local priest tried to ban members of the town band from playing in cafes. The band split; the geiten followed the church, the bokken went their own way. In the religious/secular tensions which racked the Netherlands through the early 1900s, the clash grew heated.