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SOUND
THE BELLS! on HARMONIA
MUNDI
Classical Reviews - Ensemble
featured in Fanfare
Magazine
by Ronald E. Grames
Friday, 10 June 2011
An
hour of mostly short works for
brass ensemble, many of them
fanfares, is not something I
would normally attempt in one
sitting. As it happens, the
superb Bay Brass made it such an
occasion that it was over before
I knew it. This is brass playing
of the highest order, beautifully
recorded. All nine works --
recent compositions by American
composers, and most of them
commissions by the Bay Brass --
are receiving premiere
recordings. Some names like John
Williams, Michael Tilson Thomas,
and Morten Lauridsen will be well
known to readers of Fanfare ,
though in the case of Tilson
Thomas, probably not as a
composer.
Lauridsen's
much-performed O Magnum
Mysterium is undoubtedly the
most familiar work here. The
composer made this new
arrangement for the Bay Brass.
The quiet ecstasy of the choral
original is well caught in the
new medium, and the glorious
climax will bring tears to the
eyes of the most hardened sinner.
His other work on this disc is
the 70-second Fanfare for
Brass Sextet. While it is
nice to hear Lauridsen trying on
a different style -- brash,
almost acerbic -- this work is
interesting but not as compelling
as his choral
masterworks.
Actually,
from among the many attractions
on this SACD, it is to the Kevin
Puts Elegy that I keep
returning. The hymnlike tribute
was originally scored for string
quartet, and has been effectively
arranged for the Bay Brass by the
composer. Puts is known for some
high-energy works for orchestra
(I fondly remember his River's
Rush for St. Louis) but this
shows a more lyric side of his
talent. Only quibble: I wish the
ensemble had taken it at
something closer to Puts's
suggested five minutes, instead
of four. No complaints about
Spirals, a lively,
irregularly metered tone poem by
jazz composer Scott Hiltzik. I
wasn't sure about the clapping
interlude at first, but it is
vindicated in its return as
counterpoint to the main theme.
The chorale-like central section
provides euphonious contrast, and
the build-up to the finale is
spectacular.
Some
readers may know Bruce
Broughton's name from his many
film and television credits.
Broughton's Fanfares, Marches,
Hymns, and Finale is the
longest work on the disc and in
many ways the most substantial,
though it occasionally betrays a
film composer's avoidance of
highly distinctive melodies. Each
movement of this four-movement
symphony for brass portrays a
different "attitude," as the
composer puts it. Fanfares
is appropriately bold and
assertive, Marches
portrays madcap aggression,
Hymns evokes American
hymnody in an unsettled way, and
the Finale is like
fireworks at the end of the
show.
One
should not, however, expect much
substance from the three fanfares
by John Williams. They are
occasion music that no doubt
added to the festivities
surrounding the marriage of the
Crown Price of Japan (Sound
the Bells!), the partnership
of the Boston Civic Orchestra and
its conductor (Fanfare for a
Festive Occasion), and the
visit of Prince Philip of Britain
to Boston (Aloft
To the
Royal Headmast!). They make
fine showpieces for the players,
and are reasonable stepchildren
of Williams's first-rate film
scores. Maybe it is the
glockenspiel, but Sound the
Bells! recalls parts of Home
Alone. Fanfare for a Festive
Occasion harks back to
Superman , and Aloft to
any number of escape
scenes.
Finally,
while no work on this disc truly
disappoints, the brass ensemble
version of Michael Tilson
Thomas's Street Song comes
closest. The writing itself is
skillful, but the material is
distressingly thin. It really
sounds like the brass parts to a
larger orchestral work; by my
second pass, I found myself
imagining string and woodwind
parts to fill it out. Try it, and
hear if the second song doesn't
start sounding like Copland's
The Red Pony in places,
and the third song an unwritten
Bernstein ballet. It is a piece I
want to like -- he makes the
brass sound wonderful -- but it
isn't to be.
But
enough fussing; this is still a
terrific listen. The musicians,
who hail from the orchestras of
the San Francisco Symphony, San
Francisco Ballet, San Francisco
Opera, and other ensembles in the
region, are superlative. The
sound is demonstration-quality in
all three modes. I'm on my third
pass now and still not tired of
it all. Need I say
recommended?
Ronald
E. Grames
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