Beyond the Paradox
Tim De Maeseneer
Brass Band Willebroek
Conductor: Frans Violet
Featuring: Pieter Franssen (drum-kit); Katrina Marzella (baritone)
Doyen Recordings: DOYCD442
The scope of ambition embraced by Tim De Maeseneer’s hallmark recording project is fully justified on this excellent double CD release.
Supported by the Flemish Government and private sponsor YUJA, it has enabled him to commission a series of substantive additions to the tenor horn repertoire, headed by a trio of major concertos from Jan Van Der Roost, Thierry Deleruyelle and Edward Gregson.
These are as diverse in inspiration as they are complementary in their appreciation of a performer of remarkable virtuosity and tonal command – the technique always in service to the musical source, a sound of rich flexibility, secure and resonant even at the extremes of dynamic and range.
a performer of remarkable virtuosity and tonal command – the technique always in service to the musical source, a sound of rich flexibility, secure and resonant
Concerto trio
Van Der Roost’s ‘SalTIMbanco’ is the most personal (not just due to its illusory title) – reflective of the soloist’s character and friendship. The central core is a touching paean of loss (also expressed in Philip Wilby’s ‘Sunset and Evening Star’) encased by outer sections of more prescriptive brio and acrobatic flexibility.
Deleruyelle’s ‘Horngold’ is also a play on words, although on this occasion to the Frenchman’s familiar linkage to people and place and the famed Hollywood film composer Erich Korngold. The trio of accessible reflections echo the span of melodic structure that imbued Korngold’s scores with their romantic inclinations of Strauss and Mendelssohn giving the soloist scope to add Errol Flynn excitement and luscious ‘King’s Row’ texture.
The trio is completed by Edward Gregson’s ‘Three Gods’ – a deliberate companion to his earlier ‘Three Goddesses’ viola concerto.
It is also arguably the most satisfying; the structure allowing the thematic material to evolve with greater, lasting depth through De Maeseneer’s commanding lead:
It is also arguably the most satisfying; the structure allowing the thematic material to evolve with greater, lasting depth through De Maeseneer’s commanding lead: ‘Zeus’ is as capricious as he is malevolent, ‘Hermes’ fleet of foot and thought, ‘Apollo’, the thoughtful symbol of virtue and beauty.
Finely attuned
In each, Brass Band Willebroek provide finely attuned accompaniment under Frans Violet, aided by producer Adam Goldsmith who balances with clarity with immediacy, although an opportunity was perhaps lost in not including other musical sources (other than the fine kit player Pieter Franssen) to lighten the canvas. The inclusion of Rombi’s ‘Ave Maria’ is curiously out of place amid the originality.
Brass Band Willebroek provide finely attuned accompaniment under Frans Violet, aided by producer Adam Goldsmith who balances with clarity with immediacy,
Still, there is much to enjoy in the bubbly title track from Christopher Bond, reminiscent of the works Gregson wrote for Eb soloists in the 1970’s, whilst ‘For the Beauty of Life’ and ‘A Lyrical Duet’ (featuring Katrina Marzella-Wheeler) are lyrical homages played with sensitive musicality.
Eye-popping
Ludovic Neurohr’s ‘Bulgarian Beats’ and ‘Dansul Focului’ by Stijn Aertgeerts are eye-popping examples of the modern technique-led idiom - although the latter, with what seems to sound like a Mongolian throat music detour, is so far off its geography compass points you nearly run into Antonie de Saint-Exupery finding his way home amid the ‘Sand and Stars’.
This though is a release that has not lost its way in its focussed purpose and excellence from start to finish.
Iwan Fox
To purchase:
CD:
https://www.worldofbrass.com/102198
https://www.timdemaeseneer.com/
Download:
https://www.worldofbrass.com/102198-download
WobPlay: http://www.wobplay.com
Play list:
CD 1:
1. Paradox (Christoher Bond)
2. For the Beauty of Life (Stijn Roles)
3. Tenor Horn Concerto (SalTIMbanco) (Jan Van der Roost)
4. Sunset and Evening Star (Philip Wilby)
5. Dansul Focului (Stijn Aergeerts)
CD 2:
1. Concerto for Tenor Horn and Brass Band (Horngold) (Thierry Deleruyelle)
2. Ave Maria (Philippe Rombi arr. Luc Vertommen)
3. Bulgarian Beats (Ludovic Neurohr)
Featuring: Pieter Franssen
4. A Lyrical Duet (Bert Appermont)
Featuring: Katrina Marzella-Wheeler
5-7. Tenor Horn Concerto (Three Gods) (Edward Gregson)
i. Zeus
ii. Hermes
iii. Hymn to Apollo
