The Septura Ensemble, which brings together a number of London's leading players, will be indulging in a kleptomania spree over the next year as they set out to explore different musical genres.
They will be showcasing their prize-pickings in a series of four concerts of music 'stolen' through new arrangements and transcriptions for brass septet, with spokesperson Simon Cox telling 4BR:
"We've been plundering from string ensembles, pianists, chamber orchestras and singers for four concerts that we hope will bring something very different to listeners. Our light fingers have been at work!"
Robin Hoods
He added: "The brass septet is a brand new invention, and therein lies the root of our compulsion to steal: We have no canon of repertoire, no grand history of great compositions, so we're inventing one.
Like musical Robin Hoods we thieve from the richest ensembles to create a counterfactual history — a parallel universe in which, in the world of chamber music, the brass septet rules!"
Septura's members include Philip Cobb, Simon Cox, Huw Morgan, Alan Thomas, Matthew Gee , Matthew Knight, Daniel West, Sasha Koushk-Jalali and Peter Smith with many holding principal positions with the London Symphony, Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony, Basel Symphony and Aurora orchestras.
New light
Artistic Director Matthew Knight told 4BR that he believes the approach will prove popular. "It's long been an ambition for Septura to perform this type of concert series.
We want to develop our programming over a longer span than a single concert, and really explore the depth and breadth of the vast musical possibilities available to this versatile ensemble.
Audiences are always pleasantly surprised by the huge range of colours and expression that the brass septet can create, and so we hope to cast all these works — some familiar, some perhaps not — in an intriguingly new light."
Critical acclaim
The ensemble has certainly made a critical as well as artistic impression over the last few years, with Prof Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, Principal of the Royal Academy of Music adding: "Septura's innovative approach to repertoire is raising the interpretative stakes for brass music.
Their unique configuration creates a palette of sound which is stable and varied, lyrical and powerful — but not overwhelming."
Currently Ensemble in Residence at the Royal Academy of Music the group is recording a series of 10 discs for Naxos Records, each focused on a particular period, genre and set of composers, creating what they refer to as a 'counter-factual history' of brass chamber music.
Like musical Robin Hoods we thieve from the richest ensembles to create a counterfactual history — a parallel universe in which, in the world of chamber music, the brass septet rules!Simon Cox
Concerts:
Stolen Strings:
Elgar Serenade, Walton Sonata, Shostakovich 8th Quartet
19th September 2017 (London)
5th October 2017 (Cambridge)
Pilfered Piano:
Debussy Preludes, Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition
20th February 2018 (London)
25th February 2018 (Cambridge)
Borrowed Baroque:
Rameau Dardanus, Handel Rinaldo, Stravinsky Pulcinella
1st May 2018 (London)
4th May 2018 (Cambridge)
Song Swag:
Ravel Mother Goose, Faure Melodies, Gershwin Piano Preludes, Songbook, An American in Paris
9th July 2018 (Cambridge)
10th July 2018 (London)
