Ben's Brass Blog

 This week I had the pleasure of presenting a series of major works for brass quintet.  The presentation included slightly over 30 minutes of music for brass quintet.  I felt inclined to share some of the works that I found here. Ludwig Maurer (1789-1878)  - 12 Little Pieces for Brass     This performance by the London Brass (previously the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble) showcases the first four pieces of this fantastic work by Maurer (performed 1, 4, 3, 2).  For those who don't know, Maurer was a German composer who moved to Russia at the age of 17.   Maurer performed in Russia until he became the conductor of Count Vsevolozhsky’s orchestra.  Maurer returned to Germany with his children where he maintained his musician’s lifestyle.  Eventually, Maurer returned to St. Petersburg and would remain there for the remainder of his life.      Originally written for two trumpets, two horns, and a trombone, Maurer’s 12 Little Pieces for Brass is a staple in the modern brass quintet repertoi

  Quartet No. 1 By Wilhelm Rams ø e    Performed by the Ewald Brass Quintet Rams ø e is a Danish composer who moved to St. Petersburg around the age of 40 where he became a contemporary of a number of fantastic European musicians who moved to the city in search of musical success.  Notably, Ramsoe had already experienced a great deal of musical success throughout Europe prior to moving to St. Petersburg.   Formed in 1996, the Ewald Brass Quintet has already received a great deal of professional success including first place at the International Brass Quintet Competition.  The Hungarian-based group has published several CDs and has been featured on several major performances throughout Hungary and the rest of Europe.   Rams ø e's Quartet No. 1 is thoroughly enjoyable.  The harmonic language is very easily understandable yet vibrant.  I enjoy the stark contrast in the opening movement between fluid and legato beginning and the rhythmic active and driving finish.  This contrast provid

  After discussing with Professor Manning, I decided to look outside of the United States and Europe for some performances by brass players.  In my search, I stumbled across this recording of members of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra performing David Stanhope's "Three Folksongs."  David Stanhope is a British composer who joined the Sydney Opera in 1986.  Stanhope remains active throughout Australia as a composer and performer.   This piece, "Three Folksongs," is inspired by the works of Percy Grainger (who was born Australian).  Written in 1978, there are distinctive calls to Grainger's work while simultaneously taking a slightly more modern approach in the use of timbres.  I find it intriguing that the result of my search was a performance of Australian performers who are playing a piece that was inspired by an American composer (even if he was born in Australia).   As I continue to search for more pieces written and performed outside of the United States an

  The life of Victor Ewald is intriguing.  In today's age, we generally wouldn't expect top-level engineers to also be exceedingly active in their town's music scene.  Yet, this is what Ewald did.   Ewald (1860-1935) was a civil engineer in Russia who, prior to the discovery of Bellon's Quintets, was believed to have first written brass quintets in their modern configuration (two trumpets, horn, trombone, tuba).  Ewald's four quintets are some of the most played quintets in the modern brass quintet repertoire.  Notably, his first quintet was the only one published in his lifetime.  Meanwhile, his other three quintets were not published until the mid-1970s at which point there was a major desire for modern performances of these works.   This recording is taken from the Philadelphia Orchestra and was published in 2010.  The recording is only the first movement of Ewald's Third Quintet although it is relatively easy to find the remaining movements.  The five perfor