Music for trombone quartet actually predated the current vogue for brass ensemble music; a Boston Symphony Trombone Quartet was active in the early twentieth century and recorded for Victor as early as 1906. Quite a number of trombone quartets are active today, but this release from the Utah Trombone Authority, with members drawn from the large ranks of strong brass players in the
Utah Symphony Orchestra and at Brigham Young University, stands a cut above the average. The program is intelligently designed to showcase both the intonational capabilities of the players and their abilities with contemporary pieces requiring a variety of techniques. Much of the program is quite traditional, but it never feels formulaic: a set of three liturgical pieces by Vincent Persichetti makes an interesting counterpoint to arrangments of three Thomas Tallis anthems, as do prelude and fugue pairs by Bach and
Shostakovich. There's a humorous strain throughout, and at the end it's given free rein with the Antics for Four Trombones of Brigham Young professor Murray Boren and an arrangement of
Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" by another Utah composer,
Steven Ricks. This is entirely different in effect from the
Kronos Quartet's arrangement of the same song. Especially commended to chamber music presenters -- you know this quartet would put on an entertaining show -- this disc could be enjoyed by any fan of brass ensemble music.