Brass, Reeds, and Percussion: October 26, 2024

This edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion features some adventures in Latin music accompanied by the Xavier Cugat big band with trips to Spain and Cuba. But this edition opens with a sortie composed by Louis James Lefebure-Wely, a French organist and composer who lived from 1817 to 1870. When used to name a musical composition for organ, sortie refers to a piece played at the end of a church service, often as a postlude. In the case of the recording opening this edition, the organ work has been arranged for harmoniemusik.

Perhaps most famous as a virtuoso performer on the organ, Lefebure-Wely naturally composed a large number of works for that instrument. But he also composed choral and symphonic works as well as an opera. Lefebure-Wely was the son of organist in a Paris church. When he was 8 years old, he performed an entire mass at the organ in his father’s church. When he was 10 years old, his father had a stroke, and Lefebure-Wely played the organ in his father’s place for 4 years until his father died. Then at age 14, he became the church’s organist and attended the Paris Conservatory.

1. Sortie
   Composer:  Louis James Lefebure-Wely (1817-1870)
   Performer:  Banda Classica
   Album:  Harmoniemusik
     
2. Rozenkavalier Suite
   Composer:  Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
   Performer:  Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Central Band
   Album:  New Arrangement Collections, Vol. 8
     
3. Moonlight Sonata
   Composer:   Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
   Performer:  BBC Big Band Orchestra
   Album:  Best of the Big Bands, Vol. 3
     
4. Granada (1932)
   Composer:  Agustin Lara (1897-1970)
   Performer:  Xavier Cugat & His Orchestra
   Album:  Cuban Mambo
     
5. Andalucia a.k.a. Breeze and I (1928)
   Composer:  Ernesto Lecuona (1895-1963)
   Performer:  Xavier Cugat & His Orchestra
   Album:  Cuban Mambo
     
6. Siboney (1927)
   Composer:  Ernesto Lecuona (1895-1963)
   Performer:  Xavier Cugat & His Orchestra
   Album:  Cuban Mambo
     
7. Water Music: Allegro Maestoso
   Composer:  Malcolm Arnold (1921-2006)
   Performer:  Dallas Wind Symphony
   Album:  Arnold for Band
     
8. Water Music: Andantino
   Composer:   Malcolm Arnold (1921-2006)
   Performer:  Dallas Wind Symphony
   Album:  Arnold for Band
     
9. Water Music: Vivace
   Composer:   Malcolm Arnold (1921-2006)
   Performer:  Dallas Wind Symphony
   Album:  Arnold for Band
     
10. March in F Major
    Composer:  Luigi Cherubini (1760-1842)
    Performer:  Banda Classica
    Album:  Harmoniemusik