The Special Relationship

 The contrasting sounds of Britain and America

The Twentieth Century saw the development of a deep political partnership between the United Kingdom and the United States. But whilst our two nations share much common ground – not least an affinity for brass instruments – they also each possess very different cultural background, played out in their unique musical styles. 

Programme:

Finzi God is Gone Up
Elgar Serenade
Pete Walton Time Out of Joint
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Copland Appalachian Spring

From Russia with Love

 As Russia continues to dominate headlines and extend its influence throughout the world, Septura explores the unique music of this vast nation. 

Programme:

Prokofiev Suite
Shostakovich Quartet No. 8
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Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition

One Equal Music

Marginalised, neglected, ignored for centuries, and only now coming to the fore. The fate of brass chamber music mirrors that of the female composers of the past. Our counterfactual history redresses both balances: placing the music of two female composers, Barbara Strozzi and Clara Schumann, alongside that of their historically more celebrated male contemporaries; and imagining that these women had written for brass.

Programme:

Gabrieli Exultavit cor meum
Barbara Strozzi Il Primo de Madrigali
Lassus Lagrime di San Pietro
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Mendelssohn Organ Sonata in C minor
Clara Schumann Piano Sonata in G minor

Neoclassicism Reimagined

Three great 20th-century composers turned to the past, re-imagining the music of the 18th Century, each in their own inimitable way. Septura illuminate these neoclassical masterpieces afresh, in new transcriptions of Prokofiev, Stravinsky and Strauss for brass septet.

Programme:

Prokofiev Suite from Op.12
Stravinsky Pulcinella Suite
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Strauss Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme

Christmas with Septura

The seasonal celebration of Christmas has been the inspiration for so many great musical masterpieces, and brass instruments are a vital part of this festive musical fabric. In this concert Septura focus on some of the highlights of the rich Christmas canon. Where years of repetition have dulled the impact of these wonderful works Septura illuminate them afresh, casting them in a brand new light through the unique and uplifting sound of the brass septet.

Programme:

Schütz Das Word ward Fleisch
Brahms Chorale Prelude on Es ist ein Ros entsprungen
Praetorius Es ist ein Ros entsprungen
J.S. Bach Christmas Suite
Handel Highlights from Messiah
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Tchaikovsky Nutcracker Suite (with narrator)

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