METROPOLITAN BRASS QUARTET

• Anton Simon: QUATOUR EN FORME DE SONATINE, OP.23 (1890)

"Originally released 25 years ago, this recording remains as gorgeous as it is revelatory."
World Magazine - April 2008
"...this one is a gem. It is a pleasure to hear the Metropolitan Brass Quartet's warm and round sound, superior intonation and blend, and easy way with difficult passages. "
American Record Guide - January / February 2008
"This is a very welcome reissue ... It presents both 16th century and modern works for brass -- all of them except possibly the Gabrieli being new to most ears. The Metropolitan Brass Quartet was an important part of the renaissance of brass chamber music; they were founded in 1977 and gave their final concert at Lincoln Center in l986.  At a time when nearly all brass ensembles were quintets, the Metropolitan’s had a different sound which was modeled more on the string quartet and early choral polyphony."
Audiophile Audition - October 2007 This recording explores little-known treasures of the brass repertoire. It also spotlights the important contemporary pieces that were commissioned and premiered by the Metropolitan Brass Quartet. In all, this recording presents significant works to be discovered and enjoyed by brass ensembles and audiences alike.
 
From their formal New York City recital debut in 1977 (called "always admirable" by The New York Times) to their final performance at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall in 1986, the Metropolitan Brass Quartet was an integral  part of the brass chamber music renaissance in the United States and Canada during the 1970s and 80s.
Modeled on both the string quartet instrumentation and the four-voice choral tradition (soprano, alto, tenor, bass), the Metropolitan Brass Quartet was unique at a time when virtually all brass chamber ensembles were quintets. The MBQ explored the rich and little-known four-part brass literature of the Renaissance, Baroque, Romantic, and late 20th Century musical periods.
Under the aegis first of Karlsrud Concerts, Inc., affiliated with Columbia Artists Management, and then of Maxim Gershunoff Attractions, Inc., the Metropolitan Brass Quartet performed over 300 concerts in thirty U.S. states, five Canadian Provinces, and throughout Japan, to critical acclaim ("A model of infectious spirit, dashing virtuosity, and finely gauged  instrumental balance," Musical America/Hi-Fidelity). A Christmas Eve performance by the quartet was broadcast nationally on the NBC radio network, and they were heard throughout the world on a Voice of America radio broadcast prior to their 1982 tour of Japan.
The quartet commissioned and/or premiered 25 new works for brass quartet by prominent contemporary American composers, and was the recipient of major grants and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council for the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts, the C. Michael Paul and Edward Noble Foundations and Chamber Music America. Claude Gervaise (1540-1560)
SIX BRANLES (1555)
Branle de Champagne, No.1
Branle de Poitou
Branle de Champagne, No.2
Branle de Champagne, No.3
Branle de Champagne, No.4vBranle de Bourgogne
Anton Simon (1850-1916)
QUATOUR EN FORME DE SONATINE, OP.23 (1890)
Andrea Gabrieli (1533-1585)
RICERCARE DEL PRIMO TUONO (1589)
Bruce Adolphe (b. 1955)
DESPERATE MEASURES (1982)
I. Trapped
II. Poet in Isolation
III. Revamp
Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000)
PSALM FOR BRASS QUARTET, OP. 358 (1981)
Robert Starer (1924-2001)
PROFILES IN BRASS (1974)
I. The Pilgrim
II. Lucifer
III. The Angelic Bride
IV. The Militant
V. Hell-Eve
 



MSR Classics