Back to ListSchickele, Chestnut Brass - A Grammy Winning Combination, March 28, 2000
By Sarah (Colorado) - See all my reviews
HORNSMOKE, featuring the brass music of Peter Schickele and the Chestnut Brass Company, is a combination of Schickele's trademark musical humor, perfectly complemented by the energetic finesse of the Chestnut Brass. The Piano Concerto #2 in F, "Ol é", features the composer as the piano soloist, accompanied by the brass quintet. Schickele's technical prowess as a pianist is as impressive as his composing for the instrument. Variations on a Joke features Marian Hesse as the horn soloist. While the virtuosity of this horn solo is no joke in this parody of Mozart's "Musical Joke", Ms. Hesse portrays the tongue-in-cheek Classical Style with elegance, flair, and truly virtuosic horn playing. The Chestnut Brass reveals their stylistic versatility in Brass Calendar, a light anthology of music depicting various seasons and holidays. The music in this collection ranges from the most delicate in style to the bombastic. Finally, Hornsmoke - A Horse Opera, (narrated by Peter Schickele), is the apex of musical humor in this recording. From Schickele's matter-of-fact narrating, accompanied by the sweet lull of the heroine trumpet, and the drone of the tuba-preacher, to the arrival of the evil villain and the unbridled energy of the barn dancers, and finally, the invention of the Modern Sunset, this humorous and creative masterpiece is the perfect way to top off this Grammy Winning recording by these first rate artists.