Brass Tacks
Brian Belet composer
Nathan Wilson Ball composer
Janice Macaulay composer
L Peter Deutsch composer
Andrew Lewinter composer
BRASS TACKS from Navona Records offers far more than the fundamental idioms of classical music. While the works featured on this album pay homage to great classical and romantic composers, subtle contemporary flairs shine throughout this collection. Odd meters, blue notes, ferocious brass writing, and imaginative deviations from traditional song structures seamlessly push the envelope for brass repertoire. Delve into the rich sound of brass soloists and ensembles in this compelling multi-composer album.
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Track Listing & Credits
# | Title | Composer | Performer | |
---|---|---|---|---|
01 | Three by Five: I. Two Short Fugues | Brian Belet | Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava Brass Quintet | Roman Buchal, trumpet; Petr Kabil, trumpet; Věra Bartošová, horn; Vladimír Ševčík, trombone; Jiří Král, tuba | 4:09 |
02 | Three by Five: II. More Questions (Still Unanswered) | Brian Belet | Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava Brass Quintet | Roman Buchal, trumpet; Petr Kabil, trumpet; Věra Bartošová, horn; Vladimír Ševčík, trombone; Jiří Král, tuba | 4:49 |
03 | Three by Five: III. Fugal Reflections | Brian Belet | Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava Brass Quintet | Roman Buchal, trumpet; Petr Kabil, trumpet; Věra Bartošová, horn; Vladimír Ševčík, trombone; Jiří Král, tuba | 4:44 |
04 | Nocturne | Nathan Wilson Ball | Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava Brass Quintet | Roman Buchal, trumpet; Petr Kabil, trumpet; Věra Bartošová, horn; Vladimír Ševčík, trombone; Milan Zatloukal, bass trombone<br /> | 5:30 |
05 | Tuba Contra Mundum | Janice Macaulay | Jobey Wilson, tuba | 3:53 |
06 | 5/4 Fugue in G Major | L Peter Deutsch | Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava Brass Quintet | Roman Buchal, trumpet; Petr Kabil, trumpet; Věra Bartošová, horn; Vladimír Ševčík, trombone; Jiří Král, tuba | 2:33 |
07 | Mountain Journey: I. Toward the Mountains | L Peter Deutsch | Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava Brass Quintet | Roman Buchal, trumpet; Petr Kabil, trumpet; Věra Bartošová, horn; Vladimír Ševčík, trombone; Jiří Král, tuba | 3:23 |
08 | Twilight Waltz | L Peter Deutsch | Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava Brass Quintet | Roman Buchal, trumpet; Petr Kabil, trumpet; Věra Bartošová, horn; Vladimír Ševčík, trombone; Jiří Král, tuba | 3:30 |
09 | Sonata for Horn and Piano: I. Allegro | Andrew Lewinter | James Wilson, horn; Katherine Ciscon, piano | 7:31 |
10 | Sonata for Horn and Piano: II. Andante | Andrew Lewinter | James Wilson, horn; Katherine Ciscon, piano | 4:49 |
11 | Sonata for Horn and Piano: III. Theme and Variations | Andrew Lewinter | James Wilson, horn; Katherine Ciscon, piano | 5:24 |
Three by Five
Recorded March 1, 2021 at Dům Kultury města Ostravy (The Ostrava House of Culture), Ostrava, Czech Republic
Session Producer Jan Košulič
Session Engineer Aleš Dvořák
Editing & Mixing Jacob Steingart, Lucas Paquette
Nocturne
Recorded March 2, 2021 at Dům Kultury města Ostravy (The Ostrava House of Culture), Ostrava, Czech Republic
Session Producer Jan Košulič
Session Engineer Aleš Dvořák
Editing & Mixing Jacob Steingart
5/4 Fugue in G Major, Towards the Mountains (Mvt. I), Twilight Waltz
Recorded December 9-10, 2021 at Dům Kultury města Ostravy (The Ostrava House of Culture), Ostrava, Czech Republic
Session Producer Jan Košulič
Session Engineer Aleš Dvořák
Editing & Mixing Lucas Paquette
Tuba Contra Mundum
Recorded September 25, 2020 at Futura Productions, Roslindale MA
Session Producer & Engineer John Weston
Assistant Engineer Jacob Steingart
Editing & Mixing Lucas Paquette
Sonata for Horn and Piano
Recorded June 3rd, 2019 in Houston TX
Session Producer Robert Walp
Recording Session Engineer Christian Schubert
Executive Producer Bob Lord
Executive A&R Sam Renshaw
A&R Director Brandon MacNeil
A&R Chris Robinson, Danielle Lewis
General Manager of Audio & Sessions Jan Košulič
Production Director Levi Brown
Audio Director Lucas Paquette
Production Assistant Martina Watzková
Mastering Melanie Montgomery
VP, Design & Marketing Brett Picknell
Art Director Ryan Harrison
Design Edward A. Fleming, Morgan Hauber
Publicity Patrick Niland, Aidan Curran
Content Manager Sara Warner
Artist Information

Brian Belet
Brian Belet lives in northwestern Oregon with his partner and wife Marianne Bickett. His album SUFFICIENT TROUBLE, containing ten of his computer music compositions, was published by Ravello Records in 2017. Stellar Nebulae, for string orchestra, was published on the album PRISMA VOL. 4 by Navona Records in 2020, and his brass quintet Three by Five was published on the album BRASS TACKS, also by Navona Records, in 2022. Additional music is recorded on albums published by Capstone, Centaur, Frog Peak Music, IMG Media, Innova, New Ariel Recording, SWR Music/Hänssler Classic, and the University of Illinois labels, with research published in Contemporary Music Review, Organised Sound, Perspectives of New Music, Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference, and Proceedings of the International Web Audio Conference.

Nathan Wilson Ball
Inspired by Christian iconography, Nathan Ball’s compositions place an emphasis on the music’s ability to propose emotional narratives by layering and/or juxtaposing simple musical ideas, or “sonic icons.” This approach to composition — praised by the Boston Globe as “adroit and expressively efficient” — stresses the relationship between disparate musical ideas, which the audience is invited to reconcile of their own accord. And while the narrative journeys of Ball’s compositions can thus be as varied as humanity itself, the subject of each work points only to one: the salvation of humanity.

Janice Macaulay
Janice Macaulay received a doctorate from Cornell University, where she studied composition with Karel Husa and Steven Stucky. Along with her undergraduate degree in English, she also has master’s degrees in both English and music from Brown University. She was Associate Professor at Anne Arundel Community College, and has also taught at Brown University, Cornell University, Wells College, and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. From a long-time interest in promoting musical appreciation, she lectured for over 20 years on a wide variety of musical topics for the Road Scholar program at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University.

L Peter Deutsch
L Peter Deutsch is a native of Massachusetts, now living in Sonoma County CA and British Columbia, Canada. His early music education included performance and composition for voice, piano, and recorder. He received his M.A. degree in composition in 2011, studying with Frank La Rocca.

Andrew Lewinter
As a young person, Andrew Lewinter divided his attention between composition and the French horn, studying composition at Juilliard in the pre-college division, and horn with William Ver Meulen, Dale Clevenger, and David Jolley. He attended Northwestern University School of Music, but left after his sophomore year to pursue a career as an orchestral horn player, playing with the Florida Orchestra in Tampa, Florida (1986-88) and Principal Horn with both the Florida Philharmonic (1988-2001) and the Santa Fe Opera (1994-97). He won the top prize at the Prague Spring International Solo Competition in 1992.