We aim to weave our ever-increasing repertoire of arrangements and original works for brass septet into vivid and captivating live events, with a commitment to addressing historical imbalances by putting a spotlight on under-represented composers.
In the 2025-26 season we will feature the following programmes:
A celebration of the vibrant music that arises from the crossing of boundaries of genre and culture.
Septura explore a great transatlantic relationship, charting a course from Debussy’s Préludes, through Ravel’s Mother Goose, to his friend Gershwin’s iconic An American in Paris, especially arranged for brass and solo car-horns.
The blending of classical forms and jazz idioms is exemplified by Gershwin’s Three Piano Preludes, and in a suite from Treemonisha, the first African American opera, by Gershwin’s compatriot and contemporary, Scott Joplin.
Programme:
Ravel Mother Goose Suite
Debussy Préludes (selection)
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Gershwin Three Piano Preludes
Joplin Suite from Treemonisha
Gershwin An American in Paris
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, Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre and Clara Schumann, alongside that of their historically more celebrated male contemporaries. In Baroque mythologically-inspired theatre music, and Romantic music for the keyboard we imagine a world in which these men and women had written for brass.
From the present day we have Forever the Dance by Edward Gregson, and a 2024 Septura commission, Seven Heavens by star UK composer Roxanna Panufnik.
Programme:
Rameau Suite from Dardanus
de la Guerre Suite from Céphale et Procris
Gregson Forever the Dance
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Panufnik Seven Heavens
Mendelssohn Organ Sonata in C minor
Clara SchumannPiano Sonata in G minor
Septura shake up the operatic canon, placing two intriguing but largely neglected works alongside two mainstays.
Handel’s crusader opera Rinaldo and Humperdinck’s fairytale Hänsel und Gretel may be familiar. But Ethel Smyth’s feminist comedy The Boatswain’s Mate and Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha – the first African-American opera – are lesser known. All four are vividly brought to life by the uniquely expressive sound of the brass septet.
Programme:
Smyth Overture from The Boatswain’s Mate
Handel Suite from Rinaldo
Bologne L’amante anonyme
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Humperdinck Overture from Hänsel und Gretel
Joplin Suite from Treemonisha
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 – including Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Handel’s Messiah and Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker. Where years of repetition have dulled the impact of these wonderful works Septura — described by BBC Music Magazine as “dazzlingly polished” — 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
J.S. Bach Christmas Suite
Reena Esmail – A Winter Breviary
Humperdinck – Overture from Hänsel und Gretel
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Tchaikovsky Nutcracker Suite (with narrator)