Under Represented Composers

 Hello lads! Today I'll be live reacting to the playlist Professor Manning has curated for the class. First I'd like to look at Libby Larsen's Brazen Overture.

Performed by the Stiletto Brass Quintet at the National Trumpet Competition in 2013

Firstly I appreciate the comedic element of each of the brass players walking onto the stage as the tuba plays its first solo. Sometimes gags like this take away from the performance, but I think given the nature of the solo and the audience participating with applause the end result is quite succesful.

The song has a great groove with nice counter melodies and rythms throughout the parts. I also really like giving the trumpets a couple measures break here and there. It goes a long way towards the success of the piece and it looks like every part has some brief moments of break. The piece has solos, duets, some trios, and moments with the full quintet. Writing like this works very well because it features the various timbres in the group and helps the peaks feel more impactful.

Next lets look at Invictus by Anthony Barfield.

Performed by Musicians from The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, The Juilliard School, NewYork Philharmonic, New York City Ballet Orchestra, and the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra

Anthony prefaces the piece saying he wrote it as a representation of current state New York city with Black Lives Matter and COVID in 2020. First note I'll make is I'm pretty sure the audio we are hearing was not recorded live with the outdoor setting of the video. I appreciate the visuals and it makes for a fantastic video but we have to be critical.

The piece was written for 15-piece brass ensemble. It incorporates elements of jazz, classical, hip hop, and gospel music.

Lastly, lets enjoy the Atlantic Brass' recording of Marti Epstien's The Five Chairs.

Recorded by the Atlantic Brass Quintet in 2005 on their album The Five Chairs

I got the chance to perform The Five Chairs last fall with the University of Iowa graduate brass quintet. Listening to the piece now reminds me of the challenges we had to overcome as a group to perform the piece at a high level.

The same rythms are played repeatedly by the first two trumpet parts or the trumpet and horn player a beat apart each time. The makes more tough counting, difficult phrasing, and requires intense focus. The Atlantic Brass Quintet does a great job of making all of the tasks sound easy with their clear fronts of notes and rythmic accuracy. Some of the sustained upper trumpet notes have some sound quality issues, but its incredibly challenging to switch gears from rythmic repetition to long high notes without getting a chance to take the horn of your face.

Hope you all enjoyed this weeks post! Catch you all later🫡

Obscurities Across the Internet

Hello everyone! Welcome to my second and final listening presentation post. Today I've compiled some listenings I found across the internet of which I was totally unfamiliar with. In line with this theme lets start off with Michael Tippett's Festal Brass with Blues (1984).

Recorded by Simon Wright, John Wallace and The Wallace Collection's in 1990

Sir Michael Kemp Tippet was an English composer often compared to the ranks of Benjamin Britten. In his early life he was imprisoned for refusing to perform war related duties, and it wasn't until much later in his life when his compositions started to become published.

The work is divided into three sections: fast, slow blues, and fast. For further reading on Tippets compositional process and insprirations feel free to read this article written by Stephen Allen (link).

Next lets listen to some Tuba and electronics called Exit the Foundry by Ben Hase.

Performed and Arranged by Scott Sutherland

Exit the Foundry was originally commissioned for euphonium by Matthew Turek. This work incorporates three sonic elements: sampled mechanical sounds, synthetic electronic instruments, and low register acoustic instruments.

Following that interesting piece I'd like to reintroduce a familiar face to the blog, Matthias Höfs. This is Matthias Höfs and his ensemble performing Erik Morales's The North Star Suite.

Erik Morales The North Star Suite performed in 2021

This piece is heavily inspired by Johann Sebastian Bach's "Christmas Oratorio" while including seamless transitions between the themes. The arrangement includes parts for Eb trumpet, Bb piccolo, three C trumpets, and four flugelhorns.

Another frequent flyer in the blog, Tomasi, makes his appearance with Variations Grégoriennes.

Performed by David Guerrier & Jean-Baptiste Robin

The piece is based on an old Marian Hymn. It is incredibly challenging due to its flexibility, endurance, and high range. David Guerrier is now a co-principal with the Berlin Philharmoniker.

Let end off with a bang! Here is an ensemble I was totally unfamiliar with, a Balkan brass band. This is Fanfare Ciocarlia performing at a tiny desk concert.

Set list: "Sirba De La Monastirea" "Lume, Lume" "Asfalt Tango"

Balkan brass is a musical style taking elements of military and folk music from the Balkan region. It is popular in Serbia, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Romania.

Have a wonderful rest of your weeks!

Berlin Classics

 Hello everyone! This week I'd like to introduce you to Matthias Höfs and some of his Berlins classics. Lets start with his arrangement of Handels Sonata in F Major for organ and piccolo trumpet.

Performed by Matthias Höfs and organit Christian Schmitt

Handels Sonata in F major was composed in 1712 for recorder and basso continuo. Interestingly during this period of his life he was living in London and wrote a total of six recorder sonatas.

Next lets listen to his recording of Oskar Böhmes piece titled Entsagung.

Performed by Matthias Höfs and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonic Bremen

Oskar Böhme wrote Entsagung for trumpet and piano accompianment around the 19th century among other works for cornet. Entsagung perfectly encapsulates the sorrow and longing felt by the composer throughout his hard life.

Thanks for listening, see you all next time!

Concertgebouw Brass Week

 Hello everyone! This week I have compiled some videos ranging from transcriptions of Bach, arrangements from female voice to solo cornet, and a Tiny Desk Concert!

To start lets listen to Wachet Auf performed by member of the Concertgebouw brass section on February 15th 2026.

Podium Klassiek is a Dutch television program featuring diverse musical genres and performers to promote musical participation. The episode features the brass section members of the orchestra playing an arrangement of Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme. The orignal piece was composed by Bach as a cantata for the 27th Sunday after Trinity in 1731. The cantata was based on a hymn by Philipp Nicolai and set for four voices and baroque instruments.

Next I'd like to introduce some new scenery to the mix and watch a Tiny Desk Concert featuring the No BS! Brass band.

The band is comprised of 11 members each of which are conservatory trained musicians with various degrees. The group is based out of Richmond, Virginia with stylistic elements deriving from New Orleans.

The final listen for this post comes from the Royal Concertgebouw brass band playing in the 2012 European championship with Phillip Cobb soloing.

The piece Don't Doubt Him Now was written by Major Leonard Ballantine originally for four voices. in 1990 for The Musical Salvationist. This arrangement done by Steven Verhelst was featured among many other prominent brass ensemble pieces such as Tomasi Fanfares Liturgicals from my last post!

Hope to catch you with my next post!

Brass Bands Greatest Hits!?

Today we will be listening and watching through some of brass bands most well recognized repertoire along with some of my own personal favorites. To begin lets take a look at one of the most popular pieces performed by brass bands, Resurgam by Eric Ball.

Performance by the New York Staff Band in 2020

Eric Ball was an English composer born in 1903. He played the piano and organ which eventually led him to work for the Salvation Army musical instrument department. After tragedy struck in his family he left his occupation and decided to join judging panels for brass bands. Erics passion turned to conducting and composing which was when Resurgam came about.

The name comes from the latin translation 'I shall rise again'. The piece touches into powerful themes such as death and ressurection. If you'd like to learn more about the piece please click the link to this article published by Alex Burns in 2021 (link).

The Oldest British Brass Band? / Stalybridge Old Band

Welcome to my first blog fellow Brits! In class today we listened to some historical brass literature including Canzon a 5 by Claudio Merulo.