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The repertoire of original music for brass ensemble is almost all fairly recent, so brass groups in search of an earlier repertoire have to depend on arrangements. Renaissance polyphony has always been a happy hunting ground, since the nature of the music and the vocal ranges mean that transcription is virtually unnecessary; almost the entire range of music written in that period can be played by brass groups exactly as it is, and the results are invariably effective. The Palestrina motet and in particular, I would say, the beautiful piece by the little-known Bergamasque composer Giovanni Cavaccio, certainly testify to this.

Besides, this was a period in which the possibilities of instrumental music were being explored, although composers usually left the actual scoring flexible. So, while nothing on the disc would have sounded to its contemporaries exactly as it does here (these are modern instruments and they do not pretend to be otherwise), the various Canzone by Gabrieli, around which the programme is centred, were all intended for instruments and we know that brass instruments were in use in early 17^th Century Venice. Some of these pieces are originally for organ, such as the simple, brief but sublime Veni Redemptor I by Thomas Tallis, which transcribes effortlessly to the new medium without the need to change a note. In some ways the vocal- and organ-derived pieces are the most attractive since the idea of writing pieces for instruments was a new one and the composers’ fascination with hearing a phrase ricocheting down the aisle from one group to the next was such that it hadn’t occurred to them that one could have too much of the effect.

Still, as long as you realise that nothing on this disc sounds as it would have in the composers’ own day, it is difficult to imagine that the composers would not have been thrilled to hear their work played with such security of ensemble and of intonation, as well as brilliance and warmth as needed. The Empire Brass Quintet is one of the best around, and they are also fortunate in their friends. The sound of the whole group playing at full stretch is thrilling, aided by a sumptuous recording in an acoustic which has a long enough reverberation period to suggest an ecclesiastical setting.

If you don’t have a disc of Renaissance music played by brass on your shelves, then you need look no further than this one.

Christopher Howell

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