Chamber Literature Presentation Vol. 2

Here is the playlist from my second chamber music class presentation.

Jan Koetsier (1911-2006): Brass Quintet Op.65 (1974)
1. Andante con moto- Allegro
2. Andantino
3. Milton Vivace

Album: United (2017)

Performers: Berlin Brass Quintet

David Sampson (B. 1951): Morning Music (1986)

Album: New American Brass

Performers: American Brass Quintet

Jan Van der Roost (b. 1956): Chemical Suite (1991)
1. Kalium Cyanide
2. Glycerine

3. Chloroform
4. Ethanol

Album: Sculpting the Air (2011)

Performers: Daniel Speer Trombone Consort

Daniel Schnyder (B. 1961): Olympia 

Album: Full Power (2013)

Performers: Trombone Unit Hannover

Jean-Francois Michel (B. 1957): Eastwind (2012)

Album: Tintomara (2015)

Performers:Wim Van Hasselt, Jorgen van Rijen, too many others to name

Frank Zappa (1940-1993): Peaches en Regalia (1969)

Album: Prime Meridian (1995)

Performers: Meridian Arts Ensemble

Le Quatuor de trombones de paris

Le Quatuor de trombones de paris is another one of my favorite trombone ensembles to this day.  Formed by Michel Becquet, this ensemble has an unapologetically French style to it and executes it so well.  Unfortunately, most of their recordings are tough to find but they do have a live recording from Japan up on spottily that is definitely worth checking out.




 

New York Trombone Quartet

The New York Trombone Quartet is one of the greatest trombone quartets that no one seems to know about.  Comprised of New York trombone legends Ed Neumeister, Jim Pugh, Joseph Alessi,and Dave Taylor, their one album, Collage, features virtuoso trombone playing from arranged jazz standards to an incredible arrangement of Bartok's fourth string quartet that no other quartet to this day could pull off.  This is a fantastic recording that is surprisingly hard to find, but fortunately Ed Neumeister has put the entire album up on soundcloud.  Enjoy!

 

Leningrad Philharmonic Trombone Quartet

Most of the trombone quartet recordings before the 1990's consisted of a particular orchestra's trombone section seeing as how there were few substantial original works and only one real professional trombone quartet (Slokar Quartet, founded 1973).  There are only a few of these recordings and many of them are dated or of low quality by today's standards, but the Leningrad Philharmonic trombone section put out two fantastic quartet albums in the 70's. 

The first of these albums, Virtuosity of Trombone  (1973), features almost entirely works written for trombone quartet, which is surprising as there really aren't that many pieces by this time.  This includes works by Defaye, Bozza, Serocki, and Tomasi that are still part of the trombone quartet standard repertoire, as well as a few other lesser known works. 

The second album, Music for Trombone Quartet (1977) features arrangements for trombone quartet including Bach's Fugue from Toccata and Fugue in d Minor.  

While there are "better" recordings of many of these pieces today by professional ensembles with high quality recording gear, these recordings of Leningrad are fairly clean, have style, and, most importantly, put out these recordings of original works for trombone quartet when there were few other ensembles who could play them, setting a high standard for many years.

Chamber Literature Presentation Vol. 1

Earlier this week I presented a variety of works for brass chamber works in the advanced brass ensemble literature course.  For this blog post, I would like to share that playlist and give a little bit of info on the pieces.


First is the low brass trio Triangles (1978) by John Stevens (b. 1951).  This recording is on the album The Art of the Tuba: Fabian Wallerand and is performed by Fabian Wallerand, David Defiez, and Nicolas Vallade who are all members of the National Opera of Paris.  John Stevens is a former teacher of mine at the University of Wisconsin and I was fortunate enough to receive coaching's on it from him.  It's a great piece, but it's a shame that there aren't many other works for this instrumentation.

Next is Andre Lafosse's (1890-1975) Suite Impromptu.  This recording is by the Or Notes Brass on their 2010 album of the same name.  Lafosse was a trombonist and professor at the Paris Conservatory in the early 20th century.  I've performed the Suite Imprommptu many times with my quintet at the University of Wisconsin as well as ad-hoc summer music festival groups.  It is one of my favorite works for brass quintet being very light, programmatic, and easy to listen to but also having very serious and dramatic moments.

Most people have heard Claude Debussy's (1862-1918) La File aux cheverux de Lin but I'm guessing they haven't heard it for trombone quartet.  This recording is by the Munich Trombone quartet on the 2007 album Overture, which is one of my favorite trombone quartet albums.  I especially like the German style of playing and instruments the quartet uses and think it brings out the more expressive nature of this piece more than many other quartet recordings.

Speaking of German chamber ensembles, the next piece is recorded by the German Brass on their album German Brass celebrating Wagner.  This is a part of act three of Richard Wagner's Lohengrin both the beauty of the ensemble's sound as well as the pyrotechnics they are capable of.

Coming back to America, I decided to include the modern/pop brass quartet The Westerlies and their song Saro off their title album.  This song especially showcases the groups abilities to unique sounds and effects on their instruments (and write good music).

Next is a cover of Johnny River's Secret Agent Man done by Proteus 7 on their album For Your Ears Only.  If you haven't heard of this interesting septet before, you should check out the full album which is very well produced and contains spy-movie themes as well as original tunes by Tony DiLorenzo.  If you want something more "serious" by them, they also have a "Dracula Ballet" album with music by DiLorenzo.

Lastly, I decided to include Youngblood Brass Band's Brooklyn for fun.  The group definitely stretches, if not passes, the boundaries of "brass chamber music" but half the group does consist of brass players.  This song is a lot of fun and the tuba solo in the middle is worth a listen itself.  Happy Friday everyone!

Trombone Quartet and Continuo

Daniel Speer is one of the first composers to write specifically for trombone ensembles, and his Sonata in D minor for four trombones remains one of the most-performed pre-20th century works to this day.  Written in 1686, this piece was one of many works that Speer wrote for brass ensemble, along with possibly writing the Sonata 29 from Die Bänkelsängerlieder which is a staple in brass quintet literature.

I am a huge fan of the this particular recording which is on the very first album by the Slokar Quartet.  The Slokar Quartet was founded by well-known Slovenian-German trombonist and pedagogue Branimir Slokar in 1973.  This was the first professional trombone quartet, performing all across Europe to this day and releasing many CD's of trombone quartet repertoire and arrangements, something that had not really been done before this time.  This recording is done with an organ playing a continuo part which, combined with the European-sounding Slokar Quartet, creates an epic soundscape probably close to what Speer had originally imagined.

The First Recorded Trombone Quartet

As Julie Andrews says in the Sound of Music, lets start at the very beginning, it's a very good place to start!  I've wondered when the start of the modern trombone quartet was.  Surly there were sackbut quartets and ensembles dating from the 14th and 15th centuries and there are pieces written for trombone quartet such as Beethoven's Drei Equali, but there are no real documented cases of professional trombone quartet ensembles before the 20th century.  However, in 1906 the Victor recording label released a series of recordings of the "Boston Symphony Trombone Quartet" playing arrangements of dance tunes and hymns.  This was not only one of the first documented instances of professionals performing trombone quartets, but also the first recording of one and the first recording of a Boston Symphony chamber ensemble.

Here is a recording of the quartet playing Kerry Dance.  The picture in the video is of the three members of the Boston Symphony trombone section at the time: Leroy Kenfield, August Mausebach, and Carl Hampe.  Interestingly, They are all playing old-style German "Kruspe" trombones by the look of the photograph.  According to Douglas Yeo's website, Carl and August were originally from Germany, while Leroy, the bass trombonist, was from America.    Carl and August's German background might explain the use of German instruments in the American orchestra, but Douglas Yeo's website also includes their faces on an advertisement for Holton trombones, an american brand.  Maybe American instrument makers were making instruments closer to the German tradition at the time?  Wouldn't be surprising if the craftsman for these companies were first generation German immigrants.  In any case, enjoy Kerry Dance performed by the 1906 Boston Symphony Trombone Quartet.