Black Castles (2007)

Brass bands began emerging throughout Great Britain in the middle of the nineteenth century, and by the first decades of the twentieth century, England alone boasted almost 20,000 groups. For much of their first 100 years, they had to rely primarily on arrangements and transcriptions rather than original works. Edward Elgar was among the first significant composers to write for the bands, and his first work, the majestic Severn Suite, didn't appear until 1930. BIS' collection of six attractive pieces for brass band begins ... Read More

Brass bands began emerging throughout Great Britain in the middle of the nineteenth century, and by the first decades of the twentieth century, England alone boasted almost 20,000 groups. For much of their first 100 years, they had to rely primarily on arrangements and transcriptions rather than original works. Edward Elgar was among the first significant composers to write for the bands, and his first work, the majestic Severn Suite, didn't appear until 1930. BIS' collection of six attractive pieces for brass band begins with the Elgar, and traces trends in English composition up through John Pickard's 2002 Black Castles. The German ensemble, brass partout, plays even the most fiendishly difficult pieces with polish and high energy. The group, conducted by Hermann Bäumann, has released two previous CDs of brass music by Scandinavian and Russian composers, but in those collections, they had to rely heavily on arrangements, whereas all the works on this CD were originally conceived for brass. Arthur... Read Less