Bach/ Shostakovich: Fugues Brass Chandos

premiere recordings, except track 17

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

(1685-1750)

Fugue, BWV 846

1:59

in C major - in C-Dur - en ut majeur

from The Well-tempered Clavier, Book I

Arranged by David Gordon Shute

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

(1906-1975)

Fugue, Op. 87 No. 1

2:48

in C major - in C-Dur -en ut majeur

Moderato

Arranged by Amos Miller

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

Fugue, BWV 541 'Great'

3:57

in G major - in G-Dur - en sol majeur

Arranged by James Maynard

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

Fugue, Op. 87 No. 3

2:08

in G major - in G-Dur - en sol majeur

Allegro molto

Arranged by Andrew Sutton

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

Fugue, BWV 855

1:40

in E minor - in e-Moll - en mi mineur

from The Well-tempered Clavier, Book I

Arranged by Amos Miller

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

Fugue, Op. 87 No. 4

5:01

in E minor - in e-Moll - en mi mineur

Arranged by Niall Keatley

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

Fugue, BWV 850

2:03

in D major - in D-Dur - en ré majeur

Pomposo, all'Overtura francese

from The Well-tempered Clavier, Book I

Arranged by Niall Keatley

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

Fugue, Op. 87 No. 5

2:02

in D major - in D-Dur - en ré majeur

Allegretto

Arranged by Amos Miller

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

Fugue, BWV 869

5:19

in B minor - en h-Moll - en si mineur

from The Well-tempered Clavier, Book I

Arranged by Niall Keatley

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

10.

Fugue, Op. 87 No. 6

5:00

in B minor - in h-Moll - en si mineur

Moderato

Arranged by Amos Miller

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

11.

Fugue, BWV 863

2:42

in G sharp minor - in gis-Moll - en sol dièse mineur

[Andante cantabile]

from The Well-tempered Clavier, Book I

Arranged by Timothy Jackson

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

12.

Fugue, Op. 87 No. 12

4:21

in G sharp minor - in gis-Moll - en sol dièse mineur

Allegro

Arranged by Timothy Jackson

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

13.

Fugue, BWV 891

3:30

in B flat minor - in b-Moll - en si bémol mineur

from The Well-tempered Clavier, Book II

Arranged by David Gordon Shute

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

14.

Fugue, Op. 87 No. 15

2:03

in D flat major - in Des-Dur - en ré bémol majeur

Allegro molto

Arranged by Brian Thomson

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

15.

Fugue, BWV 862

1:52

in A flat major - in As-Dur - en la bémol majeur

from The Well-tempered Clavier, Book I

Arranged by David Gordon Shute

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

16.

Fugue, Op. 87 No. 17

3:49

in A flat major - in As-Dur - en la bémol majeur

Arranged by Brian Thomson

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

17.

Fugue, BWV 542 'Great'

5:25

in G minor - in g-Moll - en sol mineur

Arranged by Simon Wright

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

18.

Fugue, Op. 87 No. 22

4:16

in G minor - in g-Moll - en sol mineur

Moderato

Arranged by Andrew Sutton

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

19.

Chromatic Fuge, BWV 903

5:29

in D minor - in d-Moll - en ré mineur

Arranged by Amos Miller

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

20.

Fugue, Op. 87 No. 24

6:27

in D minor - in d-Moll - en ré mineur

Moderato - Più mosso - Maestoso

Arranged by Brian Thomson

73:37

Chamber: Onyx Brass

Solo: Niall Keatley trumpet

Solo: Brian Thomson trumpet

Solo: Amos Miller trombone

Solo: Andrew Sutton French horn

Solo: David Gordon Shute tuba

11-13 and 15 June 2007

"... Onyx Brass has established itseld as one of the finest exponents of brass chamber music and education in the UK and this recording affirms their outstanding ability to communicate and perform... this recording captures the intimate, vocal sound of the Onyx players with consisently refined balance and clarity.

Stuart Watts - The Brass Herald - October 2008

The English ensemble Onyx Brass is a fine quintet. It varies mood and style, sometimes playing in a natural way, sometimes fluidly, sometimes icily, and so forth.

American Record Guide

If one is drawn to a brass quintet medium in such music for its transparent and inscrutable linearity, success has less –as is claimed in the note – to do with intrinsic homogeneity than the age-old principles of fine chamber-music playing… The real achievement, however, is the Shostakovich, already downloaded on my iPod as some of the most thrilling chamber brass-playing of its kind.

Gramophone

The premise of this delightful album builds a dialogue between the fugues from Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier and Shostakovich’s own studies in the form, orchestrated for theclarion tones of the Onyx Brass Ensemble.

Classic FM Magazine

We know that Bach works brilliantly in arrangement – but s too, apparently does Shostakovich! Bach worked under the constraint of writing most of his fugues for harpsichord or clavichord, Shostakovich likewise for the piano, but the limitation to two hands seems more of a spur than a hindrance: in both cases the part-writing is utterly transparent. All the same it is a great kindness to us lesser mortals to have the part-writing separated out, as here, by a variety of instruments: the wrought miracles seem only more impressive.

International Record Review

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