Music Reviews : Eastman Brass Plays in Irvine

While many brass ensembles perform with virtuosity, few do so with the degree of polish and refinement exhibited by the one that visited South Coast Community Church in Irvine on Friday night.

In a varied, balanced program of music spanning half a millennium, the five members of Eastman Brass decidedly laid to rest any preconceived notions about the limits of their instruments.

With little apparent effort, the Eastman faculty members--trumpeters Barbara Butler and Charles Geyer, hornist Verne Reynolds, trombonist John Marcellus and tubist Cherry Beauregard--exhibited flawless intonation, remarkable accuracy, and ensemble precision that rivals that of any string quartet. The quintet showed superb dynamic control throughout, which made, for example, the echoes in Samuel Scheidt’s “Canzone Gallicam” particularly effective.

While Guillaume Dufay’s “Gloria Deo” dates from about 1470, the ink is barely dry on a couple of works by John Harbison. His skill in using traditional forms, as well as his adroitness in writing for the instruments, shows clearly in his Two Choral Preludes. These neo-baroque pieces--one contrapuntal, the other chordal--remain harmonically conservative yet highly distinctive.

Using a tonal language that sounds at once medieval and modern, Harbison’s “The Three Wise Men” proved melodically attractive, rhythmically engaging and rich in contrasts.

Reynolds, himself a composer, has transcribed early works and grouped them into collections. Two of these--one by Scheidt and one by William Boyce--figured on the program. The Boyce was an unexpected delight; one doesn’t often hear music of the classical period played on brass instruments, particularly with the sort of stylish elegance heard on Friday.