Bach and Shostakovich Fugues for Brass Quintet
J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 08/06/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Bach was, of course, the master of fugue and many composers since his time have in their own way attempted to imitate (and honor) him by writing their own specimens. Shostakovich, in his Op. 87 Preludes and Fugues for piano, specifically set out to write a set imitative, in his own twentieth-century style, of Bach's towering Well-Tempered Clavier. Onyx Brass, a quintet made up of principal brass players from several English orchestras, have put together a disc of fugues which they play in their own arrangements. Interestingly, each of the members of the quintet has contributed several of his own arrangements. The players (and arrangers) are Niall Keatley and Brian Thomson, trumpets; Amos Miller, trombone; Andrew Sutton, horn; David Gordon Shute, tuba.
All of the Shostakovich fugues contained herein are from his Op. 87. All of the Bach fugues come from his Well-Tempered Clavier except for these three: the 'Great' Fugue in G Major, BWV 541, the 'Great' Fugue in G Minor, BWV 542, and the 'Chromatic' Fugue, BWV 903. The fugues are ordered more or less in ascending fifths: e.g. C major fugues by Bach and Shostakovich followed by G major fugues by each, and so on.
The playing (and the arrangements) by Onyx Brass are suave and persuasive. Bach, of course, is very often arranged for all sorts of disparate instrumentations; I remember hearing some of the WTC Preludes and Fugues played by an ensemble of kotos! But the Shostakovich have not been so often transcribed. They are every bit as effective for brass quintet as the Bach fugues are.
I suspect this CD will be particularly attractive to brass players, but I would also guess that lovers of Bach in all his forms will also like this release. The Shostakovich fugues are probably not as easily assimilated as those of Bach, primarily for their relative lack of familiarity, but they are stellar contributions to the noble repertoire of fugal writing.
Scott Morrison"
