Our hotly-anticipated third disc is out: Russian music by Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Scriabin and Rachmaninov. It contains perhaps our most ambitious transcription to date: Shostakovich’s epic 8th string quartet.

Brilliantly done…Arranging a string quartet by Shostakovich into a piece for brass septet has a touch of madness about it: surely the two remote sound worlds could never connect. Simon Cox and Matthew Knight, respectively trumpeter and trombonist in Septura, have made a brilliant job of doing just that with the black, elegiac Quartet No 8 Op 110. Sour, fierce string attacks translate convincingly into trumpet blasts. Sonorous chordal passages acquire added depth.

The Observer ★★★★

 

Notable for its polished technique and ensemble

BBC Music Magazine (Performance ★★★★   Recording ★★★★)

 

I would say that this set of transcriptions is Septura’s most successful to date, a tribute to the skills of the players and the arranger.

MusicWeb International

 

Particularly well adapted

Crescendo (French)

 

Another first rate release from this enterprising ensemble. Highly recommended

Brass Band World