Onyx Brass – The sun is free to flow with the sea (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Onyx Brass, described by BBC Music Magazine as “the classiest brass ensemble in Britain”, celebrate their 30th anniversary in 2023 with their second release on NMC. Since its establishment the group have been pioneers in advocating the brass quintet as a medium for excellent new chamber music, and have commissioned over 200 new works. This new album, The sun is free to flow with the sea, perfectly epitomises Onyx and their values, as a compendium of new music written specially for the quintet by some of the most renowned composers working today.

Some works on the album have roots in conversations that took place more than a decade ago, such as Mark-Anthony Turnage’s groovy but majestic ONYX30, and Errollyn Wallen’s angular, profound ONYX. Other works owe their inception to much more recent events, like Roxanna Panufnik’s early lockdown project, Fanfare for Broadway Tower, commissioned by Onyx trumpeter Alan Thomas who asked composers to write music inspired by a location that he could easily run or cycle to with his trumpet.

Charlotte Harding takes inspiration from architecture for her jagged Rhombus, while Emily Hall found her stimuli in poems by Arthur Rimbaud. Other composers were inspired by much more personal happenings, such as Yshani Perinpanayagam whose emotive Music for My Stolen Breath is built from transcriptions she made of her breathing rhythms whilst experiencing trauma in response to a racist attack in her place of work. She describes the piece as having a “climactic catharsis dissolving into a tiny green shoot of hope”. Zoë Martlew’s mischievous Kiss, Kiss has the players doing just that as they play with assorted percussive and vocal effects, such as blowing kisses, down their instruments.

Amos Miller, trombonist and founding member of Onyx Brass, writes: “Beyond ballpark timings (which in many cases have been generously exceeded), the composers were given a free brief as to content and we are thrilled by the freedom with which they have expressed themselves. They all have a sensational empathy and understanding as to the physical/technical challenges we face as brass players, and have also all imbued their works with a scintillating sense of themselves […] I am proud of all our records over the years but, for me, this is the one that feels like it might be the most ‘us’ and true to the idealistic spirit we had back in 1993. We may have been slimmer and with more hair back then, but I feel that I can still recognise ourselves!”

Tracklist:
01. Onyx Brass – Fanfare for Broadway Tower (01:45)
02. Onyx Brass – Kiss, Kiss (07:57)
03. Onyx Brass – ONYX30: I. Fanfare 1 (02:15)
04. Onyx Brass – ONYX30: II. Chorale (03:00)
05. Onyx Brass – ONYX30: III. Fanfare 2 (02:26)
06. Onyx Brass – ONYX30: IV. Blues (04:47)
07. Onyx Brass – Music for My Stolen Breath (06:03)
08. Onyx Brass – ONYX (02:59)
09. Onyx Brass – Rhombus (04:25)
10. Onyx Brass – Brass Quintet No. 1: I. Allegro on two themes (05:18)
11. Onyx Brass – Brass Quintet No. 1: II. Allegro with four notes (04:43)
12. Onyx Brass – Brass Quintet No. 1: III. Fanfare and Adagio on a borrowed theme (05:48)
13. Onyx Brass – Up on the toes (the slippery stair dance) (06:10)
14. Onyx Brass – Blackcurrant River (04:27)
15. Onyx Brass – Eternity (03:30)

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