This American anthology is well named. The Copland Fanfare is iconic for jubilation, Barber’s Adagio for tragedy. The ensemble is large – six trumpets, four horns, two trombones, bass trombone, tenor tuba, two bass tubas with various doublings – and as Academy Symphonic Brass it has already recorded two CDs. What’s new here is that Tony Rickard has made arrangements of the Gershwin and Barber works, and very effective they are too. The “Symphonic Picture” from Porgy and Bess, as selected by Robert Russell Bennett, is a mish-mash but many of the tunes are all there. It’s amazing that such a large group is so athletic and the solos are convincing – “Summertime” on the trombone!

In Rhapsody in Blue – with its opening glissando astonishingly delivered by a trumpet – pianist Liu Ji finds comedy and tenderness and he’s less brittle than Donohoe under Rattle (EMI, 12/87). Both the careful scoring and this well-balanced recording make sure that the piano is not overwhelmed, as often happens.

The Barber Adagio has become incredibly popular both for strings and for voices as Agnus Dei. This spacious arrangement works well, although negotiating the exceptionally long melodic phrases with brass players has obviously dictated a faster tempo than usual. There are plenty of recordings of Bernstein’s once-neglected Prelude, Fugue and Riffs and, of course, of the Copland Fanfare, which evokes its unique atmosphere again here. Altogether a fine tribute to brass culture at the Academy, and to conductor James Watson, who died unexpectedly at the age of 59, shortly after this disc was released.