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Street Song – Center City Brass Quintet Anthony DiLORENZO (b.1967) Fire Dance (1996) [3:41] Michael TILSON THOMAS (b.1944) Street Song (1988) [16:40] André PREVIN (b.1929) Four Outings for Brass (1974) [16:01] Eric EWAZEN (b.1954) Colchester Fantasy (1987) [17:59] Leonard BERNSTEIN (1918-1990) Dance Suite (1990) [5:01] Center City Brass Quintet Recorded Shore Cultural Center, Euclid Ohio, 3rd- 6th September 1997 CHANDOS CHAN 10260 [59:48]

The Center City Brass Quintet (CCBQ) is one of the finest groups of its kind to be found anywhere. The members are all distinguished players with top US orchestras and/or soloists, and the playing is as brilliant and immaculate as you would expect. The choice of works for this CD, all of it American music, is certainly enterprising. Anthony diLorenzo is the youngest composer represented, and his short ‘Fire Dance’ makes a scintillating prelude. Michael Tilson Thomas’s ‘Street Song’ is an impressive and developed work. As you’d expect from a musician of Tilson Thomas’s calibre, it is highly accomplished, yet suffers possibly from one or two too many sub-sections, and in the end I found it slightly disappointing. Definitely worth hearing, though, if only for the many elusive stylistic references. André Previn’s ‘Four Outings’, composed for the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, is a thoroughly enjoyable short suite. The third and fourth movements are probably the best, the third with its harmonic twists reminiscent of Kurt Weill, and the finale with catchy irregular rhythms. The rapid tonguing of the CCBQ trumpets at the climax is quite something to hear. Eric Ewazen was a new name to me, as was the notion of naming the movements of a suite after pubs! Ewazen spent some time in Colchester in 1987, and clearly did some very serious research; he says that the names of these old English pubs ‘... brought to my mind images of ancient and historical traditions ...’, and adds as an afterthought ‘The beer was good too!’. This is lively, entertaining stuff. Leonard Bernstein’s tiny ‘Dance Suite’ is particularly interesting as it was the composer’s very last published work, being composed in 1990 for the 50th Anniversary Gala of the American Ballet Theater. Each of the miniature movements – the longest is just 2:06 - is dedicated to a distinguished choreographer. The finale, for example, with its wonderfully raunchy central episode, is for Jerome Robbins, and has a delightful throwaway ending – the typically tongue-in-cheek last words (or notes) of one of the towering figures of 20th century music. Gwyn Parry-Jones       Advertising Rates Visitor stats MusicWeb International has over 40,000 Classical CD reviews on offer Discs received Having a problem Donating? Gerard Hoffnung Concerts & The Bricklayer Story MusicWeb can now offer you discs from the following catalogues: Prices include postage There will be NO VAT Rises [Acte Préalable £13.50] [Arcodiva £12.00] [Avie from £6.25] [British Music Society £12.00] [CDACCORD from £13.50 ] [ClassicO £12.50] [Hallé from £11] [Heritage £10] [Hortus £14.99 ] [Lyrita ONLY £11.75 ] [Nimbus Special prices] [Northern Flowers £13.50] [REDCLIFFE £11 ] [Sheva £11] [Tactus £11.50 ] [Talent from £12.00 ] [Toccata Classics £10.50 ] Musicweb Special Offers Monthly Best Buys   New Releases New Releases   MusicWeb sells the Polish catalogue CDAccord £10.50 post free W-W MusicWeb sells the Arcodiva catalogue £12.00 post free W-W £11.75 post-free world- wide     Google Ads - for information about privacy matters, click here.  Amazon Musicweb International is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

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