BassTractor Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Occasionaly, one can hear beeeoootiful brass music as the background music in British tv series. Sadly, up to now, I've been unable to find out about that stuff, and now I'd like some help. The style I'm after is that which is most definitely distantiated from these boringly boasty brass band competition compositions, where shrill, strident soloes are persistently played on tuneless trumpets. Alliteration Away! What I'm after is the very well arranged, warm sounding, slow stuff that seems often played by smaller ensembles or even just quartets or quintets - not that the ensemble size is a prerequisite. I guess it's mainly written in the 20th century, but is not like classical new music or other more experimental music. It's more conservative and less demanding without being old music (like by Byrd or Purcell). I have found some stuff that gets close in parts, like for example Elgar's Nimrod as played on CD 2 of this set: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Best-Brass-Bands-Various-Artists/dp/B00076SJ9G/ref=sr_1_8?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1392305876&sr=1-8&keywords=best+brass , but have yet to hit the bull's eye. I'm convinced the style I'm after is British though. Any ideas that could help me narrowing the field down? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyRJzdKUho0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BetaFunk Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0P2mHtdHrU Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Try some Richard Rodney Bennett. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowdown Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 (edited) Not really what you are after, but the'Canadian Brass' sometimes throw in the odd surprise hear and there. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ol9LgJQWikI[/media] Edited February 13, 2014 by lowdown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EumCetUBxHI&list=PL2C1A600BAAEE327F Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 (edited) Only an intro to a short song, but I think it (briefly) fits the bill I should say, NSFW as Frank does swear once http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXJoexZBMcA Edit: I can never get the imbedding to work - any chance of a sticky thread in one of the forums on how to do it? Edited February 14, 2014 by Graham Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BetaFunk Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 [quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1392306731' post='2367085'] The style I'm after is that which is most definitely distantiated from these boringly boasty brass band competition compositions, where shrill, strident soloes are persistently played on tuneless trumpets. [/quote] I presume you mean competition 'test pieces'. These are essential for brass bands and aren't all tuneless trumpets but can be hard going for the uninitiated. You may have to be prepared to open your ears to receive music that you may find challenging but it could well be worth it. I'd steer well clear of any brass band music incorporated into a rock environment. Just listen (there are plenty on youtube) to any of the well know brass bands (there are many still active in the UK) to get a good overview of them. Good luck on what will i'm sure be an enjoyable journey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarethFlatlands Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Do you mean classical style music? There's a surprising dearth of classical brass pieces, the valved cornet and trumpet weren't really taken seriously as solo classical instruments until relatively late on. There's a fair amount of baroque pieces using non valve trumpet, but as it relies solely on hitting harmonics and these are spaced fairly far apart in the lower registers (lowest on a regular trumpet is C to G or a 5th) making melodies difficult to write, they're all what is today thought of as played in the instruments very high registers where the harmonics are spaced much closer together. Swedish trumpeter Hakan Hardenberger, frustrated with a limited repertoire of classical trumpet has commissioned a number of newer pieces from modern composers you could track down if you want to explore further. That said, the tunes of the list here should be a good place to start:- [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trumpet_concerto"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trumpet_concerto[/url] (Guess who started playing trumpet last year) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BetaFunk Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Not British (Alan Hovhaness was Armenian-American) but this is one of the most beautiful pieces of brass music i've found in a classical setting. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIZuazBHiW4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambient Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 I really like brass band music, when it's not cliched anyway. I've often though that this is beautiful, it's the black dyke brass band. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLkjg7tBL5A&feature=kp"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLkjg7tBL5A&feature=kp[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BetaFunk Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 (edited) British classical composer George Lloyd (1913-98) wrote many excellent pieces for Brass Band. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSGWAAu2j14[/media] English composer Robert Simpson (1921-1997) also wrote many excellent pieces for brass band. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4ldT2ZDa6g Edited February 13, 2014 by BetaFunk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KK Jale Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 (edited) Apologies - rock context, so not what you seek, but a favourite of mine. With the Cowdenbeath Brass Band. Give it a couple of minutes. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhtvhxbb40s[/media] Edited February 14, 2014 by KK Jale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassTractor Posted February 14, 2014 Author Share Posted February 14, 2014 Thanks very much, guys! Together, you not only were able to narrow down the search, but also convinced my wallet to be less strict with me. Several musics are now on order that I've long known I had to buy, such as Richard Rodney Bennett, Kenny Wheelers "Music for Large & Small Ensembles, Peter Gabriel's "Up", as well as some Mogwai. Thanks! My wallet though hates you right now. As to the narrowing down, Graham's proposition of Frank Turner surprisingly came closest to the style that I am after right now, so I'd be very grateful or any pointers as to composers or names of certain styles. Just as surprising was that Barber's Adagio came so close. I do have several versions of the Adagio already, but would never have thought of using it as an example of what I roughly am after. However, an example I did find in my head would be Pat Metheney's "Last Train Home" if played subduedly by a bass ensemble. Not exactly like this English style, but close enough to give an impression. WoT, genius! Atom Heart Mother must have been the first album that taught me I could like brass music a lot, and for decades I used to smuggle little tidbits of AHM into my church organ improvs. BetaFunk, I guess you're right about the term "test pieces", Idunno. It's just the boasty stuff with a lot of bling and effects that they tend to play in competitions, and then the Corys win again. Really not what I'm after right now. As said, I long for simple, subdued, slow music right now. I hope you find it as funny as I did that your assuming I may need to open my ears maybe is a trifle assuming too much, seeing as that I'm a former electronic music teacher at music college, and had people like Penderecki and Xenakis as teachers myself. Gareth, good question. I failed to say something about that. The music I'm after is probably typically not written by classical composers, but is firmly based in tradition, as in 4/4, strictly diatonic, limited rhythmic scope, limited chord structures, limited in dissonance. More like the non Christmas music one could still play in a Christmas setting as it were. In fact one of the clearest memories I have of such music was in a Miss Marple style crime drama set at Christmas time. Again, thanks a lot to all of you! If anyone can come up with a pointer as per the Frank Turner example, you have my [s]eternal[/s] limited time offer gratitude! bert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassTractor Posted February 14, 2014 Author Share Posted February 14, 2014 [quote name='Graham' timestamp='1392319987' post='2367410'] I can never get the imbedding to work - any chance of a sticky thread in one of the forums on how to do it? [/quote] IMS, there is a sticky already, but embedding is easy, depending on forum software: First of all, often one can use the SHARE button on video sites, which copies the correct code to paste into the forum post. Secondly, you can embed the link to the video page by having the words "media" and "/media" [b]in square brackets[/b] before and after the link. Not always necessary, but may work, and it works here on BC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 Success! Cheers, I think the forum software doesn't like the link if it comes from the app or mobile site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete.young Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 How about Shipbuilders by Peter Yorke? It was a test piece many years ago but is none the worse for that and I always enjoyed playing it. There are some nice arrangements of Holst too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassTractor Posted February 16, 2014 Author Share Posted February 16, 2014 Thanks, Pete! I do like The Shipbuilders indeed. Nicely written! It's not that specific style I'm trying to find out about right now, but in its most subdued bars it does get fairly close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.