Brass Trios

 Hello lads! For my final post I will be delving into the brass trio repertoire as I am hoping to put together a group for the upcoming semester. To start lets look back at a familiar trio to the class, Poulenc Sonata for Horn, Trumpet, and Trombone.

Featuring Thomas Stevens, trumpet; John Cerminaro, horn; and Ralph Sauer, trombone.

Personal favorite trio of mine. The melody is extremely memorable with great usage of textures and dynamic contrast. Only real complaing would be the amount of time the horn is on the face along with some upper register sitting but that can all be worked out.

LA Phill program notes: The opening Allegro begins with a cheerful trumpet tune and unfolds as a series of buoyant dance episodes for brass, filled with shifting rhythmic patterns. At its heart, the trumpet and horn intone a more lyrical song. Rising trumpet octaves and a downward flourish announce the dancing reprise.

The lullaby-inspired song of the Andante spins off from thematic material found in the previous movement. A tendency to linger in the minor mode, softer dissonances, and a mellower pace take the edge off of this more cantabile essay.

Sounding like a slightly out-of-tune folksong, the principal theme of the bright and breezy finale launches another dancing movement. Several short episodes pepper this light-hearted Rondeau -- a delightful way to end the opening half of the program and to leave the music of one of the century’s wittiest composers.

Next lets listen to Corelli's Sonata de Chiesa Op. 3 Nr. 7 for brass trio performed by the Berlin Philharmonic Brass.

Featuring Sarah Willis, horn; Tamás Velenzcei, trumpet; and Jesper Busk Sørensen, trombone.

The Sonata da Chiesa, or church sonata, came into usage during the 17th century as instrumental ensembles became a standard medium for accompanying liturgical services. Generally consisting of four contrasting movements these sonatas were the antecedent of later forms of concert instrumental music in the 18th century. The exemplary works of this form were by the famous Italian composer Arcangelo Corelli. His Opus 3, No.7 sonata, transcribed here for brass trio, features the standard slow-fast-slow-fast four movement scheme prominent in this genre. Useful literature for brass trio is scarce and this arrangement makes an excellent addition to the repertoire.

To conclude this blog lets sail on over to a newer composition by Ricardo Albero titled Song for Nurya.

Featuring Vicente Vallet, trumpet; Javier Molina, horn; and Christian Brandhoferç, trombone.

Composer notes: A couple of years ago, at the suggestion of my dear friend and great horn player Javier Molina, I adapted "Song for Nurya" for a trio of trumpet, horn, and trombone for the chamber music series of the Symphony Orchestra of the Principality of Asturias (OSPA). As a result, this performance was created, which I know was done with much affection and dedication. Enjoy it!

Thank you so much for viewing my blog. It has been wonderful looking through all of this repertoire with every one of you! Cheerio lads!