BOOK OF BRASS
Jennifer Higdon, composer
Grace-Evangeline Mason, composer
Kate Neal, composer
Alice Humphries, composer
Alan Holley, composer
Lyrebird Brass
Joel Brennan, trumpet
Rosie Turner, trumpet
Carla Blackwood, horn
Don Immel, trombone
Tim Buzbee, tuba
Release Date: August 16, 2024
Catalog #: NV6651
Format: Digital
AS BRONZE
First performed by members of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Youth Company as part of the Wilfred Owen Commemoration Festival on November 9th 2018, Birkenhead, to celebrate the centenary of the First World War.
‘As Bronze’ (2018) is a simple, slow and reflective work for brass quintet inspired by the poem ‘As Bronze May Be Much Beautified’ by World War I poet, Wilfred Owen. The poem, which was incomplete upon the poet’s death, uses imagery to describe how materials such as bronze and pearl can be made more beautiful for having experienced hardship.’ ©G.E.M.2018
Lyrebird Brass presents five contemporary brass quintets in BOOK OF BRASS, an album shaking up the scene with an assortment of boundary-pushing works by highly lauded and awarded composers.
Opening with three time GRAMMY® award winner Jennifer Higdon’s Book of Brass, this titular composition can be played and listened to in any order one pleases. From the intense energy of “Ramp Up” to the puzzling, slowly unfolding maze of “Acrostic,” Higdon certainly knows how to sell a story. Alice Humphries is no stranger to puzzlings in Uncertain Meditations, which considers ideas in isolation, reflecting on their vast possibilities. Reflection is at the core of Grace-Evangeline Mason’s poetic As Bronze, too, and found even in Kate Neal’s Fanfare, which, composed during the 2020 lockdown period, challenges what a fanfare represents. Alan Holley rounds out the recording with The Goodchild Canzonas, a four movement work exploring atriums, cathedrals, and the heavens above, but perhaps most appropriately: the Lyrebird. BOOK OF BRASS is a winning installment in Lyrebird Brass’s already impressive oeuvre, pulling out all the stops with spirited fanfares and contemplative odes.
Recorded November 29 & December 5-6, 2022 at Kenneth Myer Auditorium in Melbourne, Australia, learn more about the album here.
Photo: Mads Sørensen
LYREBIRD BRASS
Comprising some of Australia's top brass musicians, Lyrebird Brass is a collective of artists dedicated to performing the finest brass chamber music. The group’s mission is twofold: to engage Australian audiences through exceptional artistry and accessible programming, and to expand repertoire through new commissions. Members have performed across the globe in many of the world's premiere ensembles, each bringing a unique musical background to the troupe. Lyrebird Brass is the first professional Australian brass ensemble to feature women as core members.
