German Brass Goes Bach

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 10/10/2017 at 11:46 • Filed to: musiclopnik

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Some of the most sublime music ever written performed by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , one of the most exquisite brass groups you will ever hear.

For Sweden > ttyymmnn 10/10/2017 at 11:59

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*toot*

For Sweden > ttyymmnn 10/10/2017 at 12:00

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wut

ttyymmnn > For Sweden 10/10/2017 at 12:05

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It’s a rotary trumpet. Unlike most trumpets you see on this side of the Atlantic, which have piston valves, the rotary trumpet uses valves like you’d see on a French horn. It makes for a much darker sound, one that blends much more with the low brass. The Germanic orchestras use them almost exclusively. They aren’t quite as popular here in the States, but they are catching on for performances of German Romantic music like Beethoven, Bruckner, etc.

7:07 > ttyymmnn 10/10/2017 at 12:13

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I love how solid brass ensembles sound. Or any instrument group that isn’t fretted or locked into a specific tuning system or temperament. Tuning on the fly for those perfect intervals. Mmmm. Something this organist can only dream of.

ttyymmnn > 7:07 10/10/2017 at 12:19

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My father is an organist (DMA Michigan 1968) and harpsichordist, and once he went full harpsichord I started to learn about temperaments, as I listened to him tune his harpsichord. It was fascinating understand that Bach would write a piece for a certain temperament specifically because it would sound dyspeptic when played in certain related (or unrelated) keys. But yes, when you get a group of really fine musicians together and they start tempering the tuning to get lowered or raised thirds etc. it’s really quite a thing to hear. I love getting that resultant tone growling away in my ear when I’m really locked in with another player.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn 10/10/2017 at 12:28

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I’ve been to the Thomaskirche. Not during any kind of performance, of course... but they did have a replay of an organ performance over I think a speaker, and the acoustics are quite good.

I like this set - some Telemann-like more paced pieces to admix with the characteristic bombast.

ttyymmnn > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 10/10/2017 at 12:33

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I haven’t listened to the whole performance yet, but I doubt you’ll hear the sort of muscular brass playing that we get in the US from the likes of the Empire Brass. The German sound is so much more sonorous, and the overall playing is extremely musical, much more vocal in character. I really like it.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn 10/10/2017 at 13:21

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Just finished. I would agree that the tone is overall less strident, more comparable to a human voice in a sense. All the pieces selected did well... except that to my ear Toccata & Fugue in D Minor was a little uneven. The final exit was better than probably any other performance I’ve heard because of the way the brass sound highlighted the high notes, but the intro (as played on organ in approximately every horror setting ever) didn’t come off as well. Or didn’t seem to. It’s almost as if the German brass isn’t as good at sounding ominous as a big set of pipes.

ttyymmnn > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 10/10/2017 at 13:36

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I have yet to hear an effective arrangement of the Toccata and Fugue for any ensemble. Stokowski’s arrangement for orchestra is famous, but it has its problems as well. Any time you take such a virtuoso work written for one player and dole out the lines to various players you are asking for trouble.