The Gaudete Brass are a Chicago-based brass quintet, and this
is an outstanding recital album of new music inspired by their
hometown … and, mostly, commissioned by the players. If you
want to hear the latest in brass music you need to hear this
release for its variety and the quality of its writing and playing.
James Woodward’s fanfare Gaudete, which opens the program,
is cited in the booklet for its consciously ‘American’ feel,
and that is true: there’s a bit of Copland-style wide-open space,
and maybe a faint echo of the theme music for TV news shows.
John Cheetham’s sonata is a compact and wonderful piece; the
first movement sports a theme which sounds a little like a deleted
scene from a Shostakovich ballet, passed skillfully from player
to player, while the central andante is a lyrical gem featuring
a melody for the trombone. If you’re afraid of contemporary
music because it lacks melody, this is something for you to
hear.
We’re told that the three sections of Brian Baxter’s A Great
Commercial City represent “boldness, independence, and
strength.” I couldn’t tell you which is which, but this piece
is more textural, layering ideas on top of one another and occasionally
featuring an Ivesian tune-in-the-distance effect. Helios,
by Stacy Garrop, represents the sun god himself, not a sunrise
or anything like that. The elegiac second half, with magical
effects made by simple chords and instrumental combinations,
is especially noteworthy here.
Rob Deemer’s piece Brass may be the most plainly-titled
work ever written for brass. I wonder if he also has a work
for orchestra called Orchestra and a sonata called
Piano. But I ended up loving Brass: the first
movement, “Bell,” is what it says on the tin, with an interesting
flavor of hymns and sacred music. No surprise what equipment
the performers use in “Mute,” but maybe the chorale-like texture
and slight suggestion of medieval chant will surprise you more
than a muted trumpet solo that sounds like it was taken straight
out of a jazz record. The finale, “Slide,” again gives you only
part of an idea of the exotic, wacky effects it contains.
Speaking of effects, David Sampson finds creative ways to depict
his city in Chicago Moves. The most creative of these
is in the movement “Spaghetti Bowl,” which, for those of you
unfamiliar, refers to a uniquely American type of highway interchange
(here’s a photograph
of Chicago’s). To capture this landscape, Sampson not only
invokes car horns, he has each note of the main tune assigned
to a different instrument, creating a frenzied, bewildering
atmosphere not unlike being caught in a traffic jam. Our program’s
encore is Copperwave by Joan Tower, the longest single
track and the oldest composer, and the only piece not premiered
by the Gaudete Brass. It might also be the least immediately
approachable work, having been constructed in “waves” and not
especially strong on the Latin American rhythms the booklet
told me to expect.
Cedille’s sound quality is exemplary and the acoustic well-proportioned,
affording the Gaudete Brass a bit of room to create a rich,
vivid sonority. They’re excellent players, and they’re to be
commended for such a dedication to music. One hopes there is
more to come, from many of these composers and from all five
of these players.
Brian Reinhart
Gaudete Brass
