Review

ABRSM
Brass 2: Brass Ensemble Pieces (Music Medals series)
Trombones, baritones, euphoniums, E-flat tubas.

London, , United Kingdom
Publisher: The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music Publishing
Date of Publication: 2006
URL: http://www.musicmedals.org

Score.

Primary Genre: Brass Ensemble - 6+ brass (choir)

The Music Medals Ensemble Pieces is a series of duets, trios, and quartets in five graded books, in open score, designed for like instruments in group lessons. Brass 1 is for treble clef  brass (trumpets, horns, baritones), Brass 2 (reviewed here) for low brass, and Mixed-Brass Ensembles for combinations of instruments. The books are graded by medal color, progressing from Copper (second-year players) to Platinum (advanced high school players). Each book tends to feature music at the same level; most of the music in the Bronze book is for players at the Bronze level but will occasionally include parts at a lower or higher level. For example, one trio in the Bronze book is for bronze, bronze, copper while one quartet is for bronze, bronze, silver, silver. The series offers assessments by using medals that indicate the progress through various colors.

Almost all of the music in the low brass series is original and features some of Great Britain's finest wind composers, arrangers and performers: Philip Sparke, Roy Newsome (Black Dyke Mills), Peter Gane (London Symphony) and Eric Crees (Covent Gardens) being a few examples. This leads to a refreshing variety of musical styles that would not be found in the normal anthologies arranged by one person. The harmonic language is accessible with some jazz appearing in the Silver and higher levels, and the parts are highly contrapuntal and independent, avoiding the "melody always on the top" style often prevalent in many ensemble books. Notation is easy to read and the overall quality is good; these books are for teenagers!

The advantages of this excellent series are evident right away: a mixture of various ensembles rather than an entire book of trios, for instance; independent parts of equal importance; high quality of writing by major composers and arrangers; playable using students at different levels; and music that emphasizes rhythmic independence without excessive demands of range. Anyone looking for good ensemble music for young low brass players should invest in these books.

-David Mathie
Boise State University