*
banner

CD review: Origin of the Species — Revisited

The Wallace Collection
Featuring: John Wallace, John Miller, Paul Gardham, Simon Gunton, Anthony George
TWC Recordings: TWC-FR2020-001



This welcome release (the original album was recorded in 1999) is a timely reminder of the beauty and craftsmanship of mid 19th-century brass quintet chamber music. 

Composer Jean-Francois Bellon (1795-1869) wrote twelve brass quintets between 1848 and 1850 – a time when the musical as well as technical potential of the first chromatic brass instruments was starting to flourish and finding an outlet with virtuoso performers, especially in the heart of Paris.

And as today, showmanship was a key attraction to a public keen to be entertained in the popular ‘Concerts Musards’ of Parisian life.

Pistol and canon

It was said that entrepreneurs such as African-American keyed bugle player Francis Johnson combined novelty and sensation to equal effect: If a performer fired a pistol, the next day a rival employed a canon.   

Bellon’s quintets are gems of formal, inventive style – utilising tonality and texture as much as sheer virtuosity in their structure and compass; basic sonata in form but adventurous in every other aspect.  There is bombast and bluff, balletic energy and bubbling dashes of impetuosity – all very Gallic and acrobatic but also touching and sincere.   

You can image the players sending the impressionable young ladies of Parisian society into hot flushes of excitable musical hysteria with the odd musical wink of a well placed trill or the lachrymose tenderness of a tellingly turned phrase.

He treats the keyed bugle, ophicleide, slide trombone, cornet and valve/hand stopped horn as if writing for strings to provide a warmly hued palette and surprising facile flexibility.  

Remarkable skill

As with John Wallace, John Miller, Paul Gardham, Simon Gunton and Anthony George on this release, the likes of Jean-Jacques Edmond Dubois, Louis-Alfred Boulcourt, Donatien Urbin, Edouard Dantonnet and Charles-Philippe Alfred Lahou must have been players of remarkable skill and intuitiveness – each of the compositions demanding nuance, elegance and vivacity both individually as well as collectively.

It's delightful stuff – understandably a little wonky in intonation in places given the instruments themselves, but so what. 

You can image the players sending the impressionable young ladies of Parisian society into hot flushes of excitable musical hysteria with the odd musical wink of a well placed trill or the lachrymose tenderness of a tellingly turned phrase.

Even in these austere times it puts a rare smile of satisfaction on the face.

Iwan Fox


To purchase: https://thewallacecollection.world/portfolio/twcfr2020001-osr-cd/

Play list:
1. Quintette No. 1 in Eb major (Jean-Francois Bellon)
i. Allegro
ii. Minuetto
iii. Andante cantabile
iv. Allegretto

2. Quintette No. 2 in Bb major (Jean-Francois Bellon)
i. Allegro risoluto
ii. Minuetto
iii. Andante cantabile
iv. Allegro scherzando

3. Quintette No. 3 in G minor (Jean-Francois Bellon)
i. Introduzione
ii. Minuetto
iii. Romance
iv. Rondo

4. Quintette No. 12 in F minor (Jean-Francois Bellon)
i. Moderato
ii. Minuetto
iii. Adagio ma sostenuto

Support us for less than a cup of coffee...

4BR wants to ensure that the brass band movement remains vibrant and relevant. We also want to be able to question, challenge and critically examine those who run and play in it, producing high quality journalism that informs as well as entertains our readers.

So if like us you value a strong, independent perspective on the brass band world - then why not consider becoming a supporter and help make our future and that of a burgeoning brass band movement more secure.

So one less cappuccino then?

Support us    



Petworth Town Band - Petworth Town Band at Petworth Heritage weekend

Saturday 20 September • Centre of Petworth Town GU28 OAH


Cheltenham Silver Band - Holst Birthday Concert

Saturday 20 September • All Saints Church, All Saints Road, Pittville, Cheltenham GL52 2HG


Dobcross Silver Band - Milnrow Band

Sunday 21 September • c/o Dobcross Band Club. Platt Lane. Dobcross Saddleworth OL3 5AD


Regent Hall Concerts - The Band of the Grenadier Guards Big Band

Friday 26 September • Regent Hall (The Salvation Army). 275 Oxford Street. WC1 2DJ W1C2DJ


Brass Bands England - The Brass Band Conference

Saturday 27 September • Redhills Durham Miners Hall, Durham DH1 4BE


Haverhill Silver Band

September 17 • Haverhill Silver Band (Championship Section) seeks a FRONT ROW CORNET (position negotiable). This is a superb opportunity to join East Anglia's premier brass band for the L&SC area contest, the Senior Cup, Whit Friday and beyond.


Cheltenham Silver Band

September 16 • Required:. Musical Director : Cheltenham Silver Academy Band Following the relocation of our current conductor we are looking for a progressive, passionate and dedicated individual to lead our Academy Band, and to support our continued improvement.


Chinnor Silver

September 16 • We need a Bass player (either Bb or Eb) and a percussionist to join our happy team! The band is promoted to the first section in 2026 and were also 2025 Second section National Finalists. We rehearse on Wednesday evenings in our own bandroom in Chinnor


Andy Wareham

BMus (Hons), MMus (Hons)
Conductor, Composer, Brass Tutor, Musicologist


               

 © 2025 4barsrest.com Ltd