Buzz Brass: Inspirations
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Erik Satie, Maurice Ravel, Antonín Dvořák, Victor Evald (Ewald)
Genre:
Chamber
Label: Analekta
Magazine Review Date: 01/2020
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 56
Catalogue Number: AN28776
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Brass Quintet No. 3 |
Victor Evald (Ewald), Composer
Buzz Brass Victor Evald (Ewald), Composer |
String Quartet, Movement: Assez vif-très rhthmé |
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Buzz Brass Maurice Ravel, Composer |
(3) Gymnopédies |
Erik Satie, Composer
Buzz Brass Erik Satie, Composer |
String Quartet No. 12, 'American' |
Antonín Dvořák, Composer
Antonín Dvořák, Composer Buzz Brass |
Author: Guy Rickards
Buzz Brass’s previous recordings have included a version of The Planets for an expanded ensemble including organ and ‘Preludes and Rhapsodies’, featuring pianist Matt Herskowitz in a barnstorming rendition of Rhapsody in Blue and harpist Valérie Milot in Debussy’s Prélude à L’après-midi d’un faune (both discs on Fidelio Musique). Here the focus is on the core ensemble of two trumpets, horn, tenor and bass trombone – the last-named providing a warmer tone to the ensemble’s sound.
They open with Victor Ewald’s Third Brass Quintet, thought to be his last, written c1912. (The dating of Ewald’s works is not precise: No 4, Op 8, was actually the first to be written, in the 1880s, but declared unplayable and reworked as his String Quartet, Op 1.) Like Nos 1 and 2, the Third is much recorded, but Buzz Brass’s rendition can stand comparison with any of their competitors and choice will come down to couplings. (Stockholm Chamber Brass, on BIS, are unusual in coupling all four together.) Buzz Brass are totally at home in Ewald’s quietly late-Romantic idiom, relishing the lyricism of the slower central movements as much as the lively Vivo finale in what is a very well rounded account.
The remainder of the programme consists of arrangements. That of the Scherzo of Ravel’s F major Quartet is jaw droppingly brilliant – a testament to the ensemble’s sensational embouchure – and almost convinces that the music was conceived for brass. The finest music on the programme comes from another F major quartet, this time presented in its entirety, Dvořák’s American. Here the quintet display their innate musicality even more thoroughly than in the Ewald in a winningly phrased performance. Sandwiched between the Ravel and Dvořák come Satie’s Gymnopédies, but why do arrangers always seem to miss out the second? Nonetheless, the pair are beautifully played in Analekta’s crystal clear sound. Warmly recommended.
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