By Chris King
In a season when one is beset with notions of giving thanks and gifts, what a gift we have in the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s Live at the Sheldon series, now in its second season. Pairs of SLSO musicians curate programs of chamber music then recruit colleagues to play along. In the almost startling intimacy of the Sheldon, we hear sectionals of the orchestra playing what the musicians want to play with their hand-picked collaborators. It opens new vistas on the orchestra and refreshes its repertoire.
Franklin, Stewart and their colleagues gave the audience one of the greatest gifts of all: laughter. Their brass quintet performance of Morley Calvert’s Suite from the Monteregian Hills (1976) captured moments of sly hilarity.
The Fanfares and Festivals program performed Thursday, December 5 at the Sheldon was curated by Steven Franklin and Amanda Stewart and staffed with eight other brass musicians and one percussionist. It truly was a gift to hear all this sonorous brass chamber music in such a small yet grand hall, up close enough to hear each player breathe between melodic lines. They performed a gasp-worthy wealth of melodies: 10 pieces running more than 90 minutes of music.
The program spanned wide in material and orchestration. A modern miniature – Igor Stavinsky’s thrilling “Fanfare for a New Theater” (1964) – was performed by two trumpets panned left and right. A quartet of trombones (yeah!) blew an arrangement of modern sacred choral music, Francis Poulenc’s “Four Little Prayers of St. Francis of Assisi” (1948). A brass quintet swung hard on stately Renaissance dances by Tylman Susato (awesome composer name). Co-curator Franklin himself composed a symphony-length quintet for low-brass – and this low-brass quintet blew the most sublime sound.
Both curators spoke with warmth and wit in introducing the material and thanking everyone down to the stagehands and lighting crew. Stewart, one of the four trombonists, praised Franklin for playing so many roles: he played trumpet, composed for low brass, and arranged a Gustav Holst hymn for a brass ensemble that he conducted. Live at the Sheldon really showcases the vast diversity of talent within the orchestra; I will never look at Franklin seated in the trumpet section the same way again.
Brass players tend to end up seated in the back wings of orchestras. SLSO seats its horn players in the more upstage woodwinds section, but even then it’s in the back row. Brass players also hold their instruments up to their faces when they perform. This makes them the least visible members of the orchestra, so it was a revelation to see all these brass players positioned front and center on a small stage. Playing brass, you could see, is all about the lips and lungs.
I had not noticed that brass players tap their toes to keep a beat less than most musicians do. Only trumpeter Thomas Drake tapped a foot consistently. Chance Trottman-Huiet, on tuba, occasionally would tap both feet for a few bars. Victoria Knudtson, a horn player with rock star vibes, was most physically expressive, dancing with her instrument (as much as one can dance with something while holding it up to your lips), and at moments in this slow dance she would stomp her left heel on beat.
Franklin, Stewart and their colleagues gave the audience one of the greatest gifts of all: laughter. Their brass quintet performance of Morley Calvert’s Suite from the Monteregian Hills (1976) captured moments of sly hilarity. Guffaws rang out in the audience when Franklin donned this ridiculous pullover horse mask as the jingling bells came out for a dashing coda performance of the program’s one overtly seasonal number, “Sleigh Ride.”
Live at the Sheldon continues with concerts on January 30, March 6 and April 24. Visit https://slso.org/get-tickets/concert-series/live-at-the-sheldon/.