Schoenberg's string quartets are some of my favorite 'crunchy listening', so discovering his works for brass was one of my favorite parts of this class. Twentieth-century 'classical' brass writing, with its various influences, and coupled with the developments made in both brass manufacturing and performance, make it some of the most interesting listening out there. Today's post will reflect on various major brass compositions from 20th-century avant-garde composers.
One of the pieces that we listened to ages ago in ABEL that I fell in love with was the Lutoslawski Mini Overture.
Another that I've performed before, which isn't specifically for brass ensemble, but has massive brass parts, is Hindemith's Symphony in B flat for Wind Ensemble.
While at the Atlantic Brass Quintet Seminar, I performed Plog's Four Sketches for Brass Quintet. The performance experience is just as energized as the listening experience is - the chromaticism and tight tempo demand intense focus and precise rhythm, as well as intentional musicality.
Above is a recording of Bregovic and his Wedding and Funeral Orchestra playing two of their classics, Bella Ciao and Kalashnikov at the 2012 Sziget (Island) festival in Budapest, Hungary. Goran Bregovic, born in 1950, is a Yugoslavian musician with many credits to his name. He's recorded and performed with a number of ensembles, such as his above Wedding and Funeral Orchestra, as well as Kodeksi and Jutro, two bands he participated in during his youth in Naples and Sarajevo. Bijelo Dugme was his main musical gig for a while, but I have him on Trubatalk here because of his involvement with Emir Kusturica on the 1995 film Underground , winner of the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and because he has a massive output of Balkan Brass music deep in the Youtube algorithm. While this sits somewhat off the beaten path of Balkan Brass, I cannot recommend Underground enough. Make sure you're ready to watch it, and do your reading on it beforehand - it's a fairly dark ...
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