Trumpet Voluntary Music for Organ and Brass

Record and Artist Details

Composer or Director: Johann Sebastian Bach, Girolamo Frescobaldi, George Frideric Handel, Henry Purcell, Jeremiah Clarke, Jean-François Dandrieu, John Stanley, Marc-Antoine Charpentier

Label: Argo

Media Format: CD or Download

Media Runtime: 65

Mastering:

DDD

Catalogue Number: 433 451-2ZH

Tracks:

Composition Artist Credit
(6) Schübler Chorales Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
(Michael) Laird Brass Ensemble
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Peter Hurford, Organ
(18) Chorales, 'Leipzig Chorales', Movement: Nun danket alle Gott, BWV657 Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
(Michael) Laird Brass Ensemble
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Peter Hurford, Organ
Cantata No. 147, 'Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben', Movement: Choral: Jesu bleibet meine Freude (Jesu, joy of man's desiring) Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
(Michael) Laird Brass Ensemble
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Peter Hurford, Organ
Cantata No. 208, 'Was mir behagt, ist nur die munt, Movement: Aria: Schafe können sicher weiden (Sheep may safely graze) Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
(Michael) Laird Brass Ensemble
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Peter Hurford, Organ
Te Deum, Movement: Prélude Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Composer
(Michael) Laird Brass Ensemble
Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Composer
Peter Hurford, Organ
Suite, Movement: Duke of Gloster's March Jeremiah Clarke, Composer
(Michael) Laird Brass Ensemble
Jeremiah Clarke, Composer
Peter Hurford, Organ
Noëls, Movement: Si c'est pour ôter la vie Jean-François Dandrieu, Composer
(Michael) Laird Brass Ensemble
Jean-François Dandrieu, Composer
Peter Hurford, Organ
Canzoni alla francese in partitura Libro quarto, Movement: prima, detta la Rovetta Girolamo Frescobaldi, Composer
(Michael) Laird Brass Ensemble
Girolamo Frescobaldi, Composer
Peter Hurford, Organ
Music for the Royal Fireworks, Movement: Minuet I George Frideric Handel, Composer
(Michael) Laird Brass Ensemble
George Frideric Handel, Composer
Peter Hurford, Organ
Sonata for Trumpet and Strings No. 1 Henry Purcell, Composer
(Michael) Laird Brass Ensemble
Henry Purcell, Composer
Peter Hurford, Organ
(A) Choice Collection of Lessons, Movement: Trumpet Tune in C, Z T697 (also known as 'Trumpetir in D') Henry Purcell, Composer
(Michael) Laird Brass Ensemble
Henry Purcell, Composer
Peter Hurford, Organ
(10) Voluntaries, Movement: D,D minor John Stanley, Composer
(Michael) Laird Brass Ensemble
John Stanley, Composer
Peter Hurford, Organ
(10) Voluntaries, Movement: D John Stanley, Composer
(Michael) Laird Brass Ensemble
John Stanley, Composer
Peter Hurford, Organ
This is an agreeable collection, but not a distinctive one, even though the playing is of a high calibre. What it may do is to entice inexperienced listeners who fancy the combination of organ and brass, irrespective of repertoire, to explore further. Certainly Bach chorales can be very effective when the cantus firmus is played by trumpet, or the warmer flugelhorn, against Bach's organ decorations. This is especially telling in Wo soll ich fliehen hin (BWV646) and Kommst du nun, Jesu (BWV650), where the organ writing is comparatively florid and played with the lightest touch by Peter Hurford. Equally in Jesu bleibet meine Freude (''Jesu joy of man's desiring''), with the organ playing the basic melisma and the brass group given the chorale, or in the Schubler chorale, Wachet auf, where the whole piece is essentially arranged for brass but with the organ still maintaining a discreet presence, the results are impressive. But perhaps the most striking new look is with Schafe konnen sicher weiden (''Sheep may safely graze''), where trombones intone the chorale, very dignified and stately, and the organ plays the underlying continuo.
Apart from Bach, there is the arresting opening Prelude of Charpentier, and some popular favourites too, notably a fine forthright account of Jeremiah Clarke's The Prince of Denmark's March (which used to be called ''The Trumpet Voluntary''), while the concert ends with a grandiloquent Minuet from Handel's Royal Fireworks Music, sounding properly regal and producing real splendour in the reprise. Purcell's Trumpet Sonata works well with the organ, but for me the highlight is the novelty of Dandrieu's, Si c'est pour oter la vie. This begins on two high-voiced trumpets, playing in close harmony, and the sound is captivating; the organ entry brings a more complex treatment of the theme which is hardly less winning and reminds us that Hurford is playing the magnificent organ at Ratzeburg Cathedral, which he has used so tellingly in his solo Bach recordings.
Also very enjoyable are the two Allegros from the four-movement suite selected from organ voluntaries of John Stanley, again featuring the trumpets at their most brilliant. I hope I may be forgiven for saying that I prefer the Bach chorales in their normal formats (especially ''Jesu joy of man's desiring'', with chorus and oboe obbligato) but that is not to imply that baroque music can't be stimulating when heard in different sonorities. Certainly this collection offers very good sound and I hope it makes new friends for the music.'

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