Fanfares Onyx Brass

• Anonymous, Herbert Howells (1892 - 1983):
• 1 Fanfare for Schools (Arr. for Brass Ensemble & Percussion) 00:52
• Malcolm Arnold (1921 - 2006):
• 2 Festival Fanfare 01:16
• 3 Kingston Fanfare 00:33
• 4 A Richmond Fanfare 00:33
• 5 Railway Fanfare 01:32
• 6 Fanfare for a Royal Occasion 01:17
• Arthur Bliss (1891 - 1975):
• 7 Fanfare to Precede the National Anthem 00:32
• Anonymous, Arthur Bliss:
• 8 God Save the Queen (Arr. A. Bliss for Brass Ensemble) 00:55
• Arthur Bliss
• 9 The Right of the Line Fanfare 01:26
• 10 Fanfare for the Princess Anne 00:59
• 11 High Sheriff's Fanfare 00:28
• 12 A Salute to Painting Fanfare 01:20
• 13 Research Fanfare 01:32
• 14 Peace Fanfare 00:38
• 15 Let the People Sing Fanfare 00:22
• 6 Brilliant Fanfares:
• 16 6 Brilliant Fanfares: No. 1 "Fanfare for a Dignified Occasion" 00:28
• Arthur Bliss:
• 17 Fanfare for Heroes 01:46
• 18 Homage to Shakespeare Fanfare 01:07
• 19 Birthday Fanfare for Sir Henry Wood 01:17
• Michael Tippett (1905 - 1998):
• 20 Fanfare No. 3 00:57
• 21 Fanfare No. 4 "The Wolf Trap Fanfare" 01:09
• Granville Bantock (1868 - 1946):
• 22 Fanfare for 4 Trumpets 00:22
• Eric Coates (1886 - 1957):
• 23 Fanfare No. 1 00:24
• 24 Fanfare No. 2 00:35
• Haydn Wood (1882 - 1959): 6 Brilliant Fanfares:
• 25 6 Brilliant Fanfares: Fanfare No. 3 00:47
• Haydn Wood, M. Roberts (b. 1963): 6 Fanfares (Arr. M. Roberts):
• 26 6 Fanfares (Arr. M. Roberts): No. 1, Con spirito 00:20
• 27 6 Fanfares (Arr. M. Roberts): No. 2, Moderato 00:21
• 28 6 Fanfares (Arr. M. Roberts): No. 3, Moderato 00:23
• 29 6 Fanfares (Arr. M. Roberts): No. 4, Moderato 00:23
• 30 6 Fanfares (Arr. M. Roberts): No. 5, Moderato 00:29
• 31 6 Fanfares (Arr. M. Roberts): No. 6, Con spirito e ritmico 00:23
• Imogen Holst (1907 - 1984):
• 32 Fanfare for Thaxted 03:02
• 33 Fanfare for the Grenadier Guards 02:25
• Leiston Suite:
• 34 Leiston Suite: I. Entry Music. Brilliant & Energetic 00:44
• 35 Leiston Suite: II. Jig. Quick & Light 00:41
• 36 Leiston Suite: III. Interlude. Cheerful & Energetic 00:56
• 37 Leiston Suite: IV. Slow Air. Very Slow & Expressive 02:00
• 38 Leiston Suite: V. March, to the Tune of Kettle-Drum. Cheerful & Energetic 01:51
• Albert William Ketèlbey (1875 - 1959):
• 39 Coronation Fanfare 00:50
• 40 Fanfare for a Naval Occasion No. 1 00:58
• 41 Fanfare for a Naval Occasion No. 2 00:36
• 42 Fanfare for Victory 01:17
• 43 Fanfare for the Royal Artillery 00:54
• 44 Short Fanfare for the Air Force 00:33
• 45 Fanfare for a Ceremonial Occasion 00:57
• Hamilton Harty (1879 - 1941):
• 46 Fanfare 00:21
• Frederic Curzon (1899 - 1973): 6 Brilliant Fanfares:
• 47 6 Brilliant Fanfares: No. 5 "Fanfare for a Merry Occasion" 00:22
• 48 6 Brilliant Fanfares: No. 6 "Westminster" 00:43
• 49 6 Brilliant Fanfares: No. 4, — 00:26
• Elisabeth Lutyens (1906 - 1983):
• 50 Fanfare for a Festival 04:18
• Arnold Bax (1883 - 1953), Graham Parlett:
• 51 Hosting at Dawn Fanfare (Arr. G. Parlett for Brass Ensemble) 00:36
• Arnold Bax:
• 52 Fanfare for a Cheerful Occasion 00:51
• 2 Fanfares for Show Business:
• 53 2 Fanfares for Show Business: No. 1, Moderato - Allargando 00:54
• 54 2 Fanfares for Show Business: No. 2, Con brio 00:27
• Royal Wedding Fanfares:
• 55 Royal Wedding Fanfares: No. 1, Con brio 00:49
• 56 Royal Wedding Fanfares: No. 2, Moderato 01:30
• Arnold Bax:
• 57 Salute to Sydney 01:11
• Joseph Horovitz (b. 1926):
• 58 Graduation Fanfare No. 2 02:09
• Total Runtime 57:47

Info for Fanfares

Among all the many Chandos brass recordings, each release having played a major role in the labels successful history, this one may well be the loudest.

In the vast acoustic of St Judes Church, London, rendered in surround-sound, and in the largest ensemble format to which it has ever expanded, Onyx Brass, under the energetic direction of John Wilson, brings together four dozen fanfares by fourteen British composers of the past century and a half.

Including works by Arnold, Bax, Bliss, Imogen Holst Ketèlbey, and Tippett with numerous premiere recordings, this album is an unmissable celebration of stirring, brilliant, joyous, exciting, varied, sometimes military, and always optimistic music.

Recording of the Month: “This really is a superb disc – a veritable box of delights or a horn(!) of plenty… John Wilson proves himself to be a deft and intelligent interpreter of this music which he allows to push on in flamboyant display or swagger with burnished grandeur as the mood demands. The playing of the expanded Onyx brass is of exactly the right kind of easy virtuosity and blazing brilliance. As mentioned, the liner is full of useful and valuable information about both composers and music. St Jude-on-the-hill is an ideal recording venue lending the ensemble richness without undue resonance. The Chandos SA-CD 5.0 engineering (I listened in SA-CD stereo) is very good, being truthful without any added excess glamour. For admirers of British brass writing and performing this will be a reference disc for many years to come. Yes, of course, this is something of a niche programme – and thank you to Chandos for filling that niche, but it is certainly one of the highlights of my listening year to date.” (Nick Barnard, MusicWeb-International)

“… As you would expect from an ensemble of the kudos and personnel of Onyx Brass, the playing is exemplary throughout, as are Chandos’s customary superb production standards allied to a vibrant recorded sound, beautiful presentation and highly informative liner notes. John Wilson’s first foray conducting brass musicians also emerges as a great success… a vital testimony of a significant, yet neglected creative art form that is unique to the world of brass… not to be missed.” (Christopher Thomas, Brass Band World magazine)

Onyx Brass
John Wilson, conductor

Since 1993 Onyx Brass has been dominating the international brass chamber music world. Dubbed "easily the classiest brass ensemble in Britain " by BBC Music magazine, it has performed at festivals all over Europe and the USA to huge critical acclaim. The group was conceived by way of filling the huge gap in the market for a serious yet approachable brass chamber ensemble.

Of particular importance to Onyx is the commissioning of new music and, to this end, they have performed and recorded world premieres of music by Jonathan Dove, Bob Chilcott, John Tavener, John McCabe, Judith Bingham, Joe Duddell and Michael Nyman.

Individual members of the group hold permanent, principal positions in The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra of English National Opera, the English Chamber Orchestra, and the Royal Ballet Sinfonia. The quintet performs regularly on BBC Radios 2 and 3. In its history, the ensemble has won numerous grants, competitions and scholarships as well as having played for The Queen and Prime Ministers Tony Blair and, before him, John Major.

Onyx Brass are also very active and experienced in the field of music education, having conducted workshops and master classes for a huge range of people. They have directed educational days at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. In the USA, they have carried out masterclasses at the Juilliard School in New York and the Boston Conservatory. In addition, the group returned to its roots at the National Youth Orchestra for a day and coached the talented young brass students for a cooperative concert held that evening. Onyx Brass have just been appointed ensemble-in-residence at both Westminster Abbey Choir School and Imperial College, University of London.

During 2000-01 they took part in a Making Music (formerly the National Federation of Music Societies) New Horizons educational tour around Britain , with specially commissioned music by Bob Chilcott called 'A Sporting Chance' for brass quintet, school choir, actors and dancers. In 2002, with the assistance of ING Barings and Hackney Music Services, they took a similar project into schools within the London Borough of Hackney. Between the Summers of 2004 and 2005, Onyx, again, took 'A Sporting Chance' to various festivals and societies around the UK , thanks to a grant from the Arts Council of Great Britain. The group intends to rejuvenate this project in the run-up to the London Olympics in 2012. br>
Work with choirs now also forms a vital part of Onyx’s work. In recent times the group has worked with the BBC Singers, the Brighton Festival Chorus, the Choir of St Brides, Fleet Street as well as superb amateur choirs including the choir of Selwyn College,Cambridge. The John Armitage Memorial trust forms the backbone of this work and, also, provides a platform for composers to submit works for inclusion in to each years series of concerts.

Onyx have recorded several discs, including Fugue a recording of fugues by Bach and Shostakovich (Chandos Records) and two titles for Meridian Records - Pavans Fantasias Variations and Time to Time.

Booklet for Fanfares