Posted by Michael Grant on August 22, 2001 at 07:21:45:
In Reply to: Re: Little heard brass recordings posted by Gary Press on August 20, 2001 at 17:09:17:
I agree, the L.A. recording is one of my favorites. I have 2 recordings of the "Homage..." (the Ensemble 21 is not one of them although I have heard it) and the L.A. is by far the cleanest and best interpreted of the group. The other one is "Night of the Mayas" which is also good. His other works are excellent as well. Michael Estep in Calgary did his masters thesis on the music of Revualtes and has studied many of his works. Check out the Koch CD 3-7421-2H1 Silverstre Revueltas works with Gisele Ben-Dor conducting "La Coronela", "Itinerarios" and "Colorines". Just great writing.
I must also agree with Sean. The Chicago Pro Musica recording is one of my favorite recordings. All of the playing is excellent. The other works (Varese, Martinu & ??? - one other that eludes me at the moment - ) are also great pieces.
One recording of special mention is "Russian Brass" by the English Brass Ensemble. Although not original works but arrangements of them, the brass playing on this is stupendous! Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet" (arranged for large brass ensemble) , "Sonata No 7, Op. 83" (originally string quartet arranged for brass quintet) and Shostakovich's "Qaurtet No. 7, Op. 108" (also string quartet arr: for B5) are played so well by a brass group that your head will spin! James Gourlay's playing is incredibly clean with a great sound and range. Robert Childs (euph player on the "R & J") is a monster! Unlike the HR Brass "R & J", this one is more chamber like and will be great in a chamber brass setting (available from the BrassWind Music Publishers in England this fall). I think you will find the quartets the most impressive though. It is hard to believe that a brass quintet can play something so technically difficult with such ease.
The recording is from Academy Sound and Vision Ltd. (ASV Digital) # CD DCA 629, recorded in 1988, distributed by Pinnacle Records.
Enjoy!