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Concert: Atlantic Brass Quintet Hirofumi Noguchi, Trumpet Marc Geelhoed, Reporter They opened with La Rejouissance from Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks, arranged by Luke. Luke was playing a G-trumpet as Noguchi performed on piccolo. It was a very upbeat performance, and Manning deserves acknowledgement for his wonderful technical work. The two trumpeters blended nicely, as did the other members. Right away, the group established that they are a unit that communicates almost telepathically. Second was an arrangement of J.S. Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in D minor by John Nelson. The prelude was slow opening to a delicate fugue. The trumpets would play lines moving in parallel motion, and then in imitation. Luke handled some tricky lines with ease. He played a short cadenza, and the piece concluded. Luke’s arrangement of Stravinsky’s Pulcinella followed. They played five movements including Sinfonia, Tarantella, Toccata, Minuet, and Vivo. Luke used G trumpet on the opening movement, which was nicely reminiscent of the oboe in the original. Manning also effectively recreated the sound of a double bass. The next two movements were played without a break, with Noguchi on C-trumpet for both. There was an impressive hemiola in the Tarantella, which was taken at a blazing The second half opened with Bernard Rands Fanfare, written in 1997. This Pulitzer-Prize-winning composer employed textures that brought Stravinsky to mind, and had the group playing complex rhythmic unisons. Faieta played a strong, muscular solo over these rhythms. At a little under 2:00, this piece deserves a wider hearing. Liszt’s Second Hungarian Rhapsody followed, in Luke’s arrangement. It opened with a rhapsodic trombone solo, and was followed by a great horn solo performed by Manning in his upper register Big Swifty and Sofa were next, these two songs by Frank Zappa were arranged by John Nelson. Big Swifty is a rollicking song in 7/8 that sounded like Bernstein only cooler! This 4:00 piece turned into an easy swing tune before returning 7/8. Sofa is a Gospel tune Zappa wrote while visiting Watts in Los Angeles. Kingan joined the group on percussion on these pieces. Noguchi’s fantastic upper register playing was worth mentioning on the Zappa arrangements. The concert closed with three pieces of world-music: the Caballito Nicyano from Costa Rica, Zvonce Kolo from Serbia, and Metalifonico from Brazil. These were all arranges by Luke and Nelson. All the musicians seemed remarkably comfortable in these diverse idioms. The audience demanded an encore, and the quintet performed a piece by the Mexican composer Moncallo. Kingan was using many indigenous percussion instruments on this selection that achieved the vitality for which Mexican folk music in known. The program ended in a blaze, with Faieta playing an obstreperous solo that would have fit in with any Latin big band. This group plays with excellent precision, intonation, and energy. They are simply enjoyable and exciting to listen to! |
Trumpet Prelude
(click here for reviews) University of Texas at Arlington Trumpet Ensemble Entrada ......................................................... George B. Chave Trumpet Octet........................................................ Ken Edwards Dr. Rick Bogard, Director Members Eric Baker, John Benitez, Marques Belcher, Jayson Carraway, Arwyn Childs, James Davis, Russell Echols, Ken Edwards, Miranda George, Minerva Hernandez, Brandon Leigh, Brian Nelson, John Robertson
Program La Rejouissance from Music for the Royal Fireworks .......... G.F. Handel/arr. Luke Prelude and Fugue in D minor “Fiddle Fugue” . J.S. Bach/arr. Nelson Suite from Pulcinella............................. Igor Stravinsky/arr. Luke Passages (1996).......................................... Samuel Headrick Dances from Terpsichore................. Michael Praetorius/arr. Luke INTERMISSION Fanfare (1997) ................................................... Bernard Rands Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2............................ Franz Liszt/arr. Luke Two Pieces........................................ Frank Zappa/arr. Nelson Brass Band Music from Around the World............. arr. Luke/Nelson The Atlantic Brass Quintet is represented by Besen Arts, |
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tempo. Luke played the well-known Toccata on C-trumpet cleanly, with every phrase crisp and distinct. Noguchi switched to piccolo for this movement recreating, the woodwind parts. The Minuet had solos for Orgel and Faieta. The ending Vivo was played with gusto by Faieta, and Manning once again successfully recreated the bass line. This is a great arrangement of a great piece. The Stravinsky was followed by work written for the quintet by Samuel Headrick, entitled Passages. The first movement, Adagio, reminded one of Anton Webern, starting with an unaccompanied solo played by Luke. It was if they were all playing their own chorale, but the piece still fit together. The Allegro was definitely fast, with the entire group multiple tonguing for many measures. The piece ended with a sputter instead of the strong finish one might expect. This is an enjoyable piece that would challenge any quintet. The first half ended with Luke’s transcriptions to two Dances from Terpsichore, by Michael Praetorius. The group performed while standing, and the Branle de Villages had a nice Renaissance feel. The Volta brought to mind a village fair. Luke’s G-trumpet playing was exquisite. 