Brass Quintets
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Eugène Bozza, Malcolm Arnold, Ludwig (Wilhelm) Maurer, Morley Calvert, Ingolf Dahl, Victor Evald (Ewald)
Label: Collins Classics
Magazine Review Date: 1/1997
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 67
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 1489-2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Quintet No 1 (Brass) |
Malcolm Arnold, Composer
Center City Brass Quintet Malcolm Arnold, Composer |
| Sonatine |
Eugène Bozza, Composer
Center City Brass Quintet Eugène Bozza, Composer |
| (3) Pieces |
Ludwig (Wilhelm) Maurer, Composer
Center City Brass Quintet Ludwig (Wilhelm) Maurer, Composer |
| Music for Brass Instruments |
Ingolf Dahl, Composer
Center City Brass Quintet Ingolf Dahl, Composer |
| Suite from the Monteregian Hills |
Morley Calvert, Composer
Center City Brass Quintet Morley Calvert, Composer |
| Brass Quintet No. 1 |
Victor Evald (Ewald), Composer
Center City Brass Quintet Victor Evald (Ewald), Composer |
Author: Ivan March
No one could write for a brass quintet more wittily than Sir Malcolm Arnold and his tail-chasing opening theme, with its contrasting chorale, superficially reminds one of Britten’s fugue in his Young Person’s Guide; but the dark, central “Chaconne” is all Arnold’s own; the disrespectful finale then mixes influences from everywhere including jazz and, of course, produces a tune, worthy of its infectious surroundings.
Ewald’s Quintet is more conventional but it is agreeable and sonorously scored; again there is no lack of melodic interest. Bozza’s Sonatine is agreeable occasional music, with the melancholy of the slow movement nicely offset by the roisterously uninhibited scherzo. The finale is a grotesque march which quotes from Shostakovich and Ravel. Maurer’s Three Pieces are brief but characterful and richly harmonized. Dahl opens by spectacularly recalling a Bach chorale, and then in his emotionally plangent third movement dips into dissonance, ending with a closely interwoven fugato and a thrillingly assertive coda. The mood then lightens for Calvert’s Suite from the Monteregian Hills, winningly based on French-Canadian folk-songs. The first movement is contagiously rhythmic, the scherzo offbeat, and an exuberantly jazzy finale finally celebrates a French Christmas carol.
Not a single item here is dull or lacking freshness of ideas, and the players relish this attractive repertoire, playing with sparkling bravura and blending expertly. The recording is in the demonstration bracket. If you like brass chamber music (though it has to be a sizeable chamber), this collection is hard to beat.'
Ewald’s Quintet is more conventional but it is agreeable and sonorously scored; again there is no lack of melodic interest. Bozza’s Sonatine is agreeable occasional music, with the melancholy of the slow movement nicely offset by the roisterously uninhibited scherzo. The finale is a grotesque march which quotes from Shostakovich and Ravel. Maurer’s Three Pieces are brief but characterful and richly harmonized. Dahl opens by spectacularly recalling a Bach chorale, and then in his emotionally plangent third movement dips into dissonance, ending with a closely interwoven fugato and a thrillingly assertive coda. The mood then lightens for Calvert’s Suite from the Monteregian Hills, winningly based on French-Canadian folk-songs. The first movement is contagiously rhythmic, the scherzo offbeat, and an exuberantly jazzy finale finally celebrates a French Christmas carol.
Not a single item here is dull or lacking freshness of ideas, and the players relish this attractive repertoire, playing with sparkling bravura and blending expertly. The recording is in the demonstration bracket. If you like brass chamber music (though it has to be a sizeable chamber), this collection is hard to beat.'
Brass Quintets
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