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Concert: The Eastman Brass Quintet
Del Lyren, reporter
Bemidji State University
The Eastman Brass Quintet was newly reformed when James Thompson joined
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Eastman Brass Quintet |
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the faculty at the Eastman School of Music. All members of the group are on Eastman's faculty - James Thompson and Doug Prosser, trumpets, W. Peter Kurau, horn, John Marcellus, trombone, and Don Harry, tuba. The recital opened with Overture to "Ruslan and Ludmilla." The technical passages normally performed by the violins were performed with dazzling efficiency by the two trumpets. Next on the program was a Verne Reynolds arrangement of Mendelssohn's String Quartet, op.12. Full of perfectly tuned unisons and octaves, the quintet amazed the audience with this extraordinarily difficult arrangement. After a short intermission, the ensemble returned for a second half full of original brass quintet music. The five movements of Suite by Verne Reynolds displayed not only the beautiful lyric abilities of the performers but also their unbelievably clean technique. A work not known to many in the audience, at times it displayed rhythmic and tonal characteristics similar to the Symphony for Brass and Percussion by Gunther Schuller. After a finale of Ricochet, by Kerry Turner, the audience responded with a nearly instant standing ovation for this captivating performance. |
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