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!
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