Customer Reviews

Richard Strauss: Music for Symphonic Brass

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Thanks to this recording, several great unknown works by R. Strauss are finally available to the general public. I have no idea why these pieces are ignored in concert halls and recording studios. The Locke Brass Consort does a fantastic job with these very challenging works (I've played the Fanfare Fur Die Wiener Philharmoniker and the Johanniterordens and will personally attested to their difficulty!) I highly recommended addition to the Strauss lovers library.

Strass is one of the rare composers who wrote excellent music for brass, especially in the late romantic tradition. These works are mainly in the fanfare style, and "Festmusick" was probably written to be played outdoors, scored only for trumpets, trombones, and tubas with percussion; it is a remarkable work lasting almost 12 minutes, and written in a mini-symphony style. The other works are scored for full brass including french horns. It is interesting that most all of his works for brass are written in the key of Eb, which is a very good key for brass to play. His works are exceptionally demanding to perform, using large brass ensembles with extended phrases, often without much rest for the performers. Many of these works have not yet been published, but several are available from Boosey & Hawkes. The Locke Brass Consort plays these works with much excitement and sensitivity, with great expression and dynamic shading. I highly recommend this CD, although listening to it in its entirety is not what I would consider relaxing. . . If you are a brass player, you will really appreciate this CD; it is some of the best brass music ever written!