Bring out the top brass
NINE members of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra’s brass and percussion sections will join eight brass musicians from the Australian National Academy of Music to perform a resounding program of music at St David’s Cathedral in Hobart on Saturday.
Presiding over the performance will be the national academy’s conductor, Michael Mulcahy.
It will be Mulcahy’s first performance with the TSO since he began his career with the orchestra as principal trombone back in 1976. He has been trombonist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for the past 28 years, and also teaches at the Australian National Academy of Music.
The first half of the program will include arrangements of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No.3, Ricercare (from The Musical Offering) and Nun Seid ihr Wohl Gerochen, plus Samuel Barber’s Mutations from Bach.
“I really wanted the audience to experience a different side of brass, bringing the highest-quality music to the program,” Mulcahy said.
“Some are very polyphonic, contrapuntal and technical, and others are very lyrical and expressive. It is an exciting program and people will hear the subtleties of brass playing.”
The second half of the program features more recent works, including Verwandlung from Austrian composer Alban Berg’s opera Wozzeck.
“It’s fascinating, beautifully and powerfully lyrical and extremely dramatic,” Mulcahy said.
“Quatre Pieces Prieres de Saint Francois D’Assise by Poulenc will be perfect for the cathedral. They are glorious and very mellow. The horns and trombones give a rich, deep sound.
“The main work will be Symphony for Brass and Percussion Opus 16 by Schuller, who was principal horn with the Metropolitan Opera in New York. It’s large-scale with harmonies and rhythms influenced by jazz. It’s a really exciting and original work.”
The concert is at St David’s Cathedral in Macquarie St, Hobart, from 7.30pm on Saturday. Tickets are $50 for adults, $45 concession and $20 for students, go to www.tso.com.au for bookings.