Bjørn Morten Christophersen – Woven Brass

The Arts Desk

Woven Brass is a disc to suit all listening habits, a collection of brass pieces ranging from 33 seconds to 14 minutes in length. They can be enjoyed in isolation. Or, heard in sequence, they form an extended multi-movement work.

Christophersen’s little Sentimental Pebbles was the starting point, a melting hymn for trumpet and organ here rescored for brass quintet. Here it’s a mellow centerpiece. We get pieces for quintet, trio, and an arresting opener for three trumpets.

The writing is so, so idiomatic, and Christophersen’s direct musical language is readily accessible. Trombone glissandi in the little Sliding March sound like distant sirens, and Circo Dodecafonico’s twelve-tone hijinks are witty and lyrical.

Trumpeter Jonas Haltia is outstanding in an extended solo Chaconne, and the disc’s disparate threads are knitted together in the final quintet piece, Woven Brass. Quite exceptional, and one of the best and most arresting brass albums I’ve ever heard.

The playing, each musician drawn from the Oslo-Filharmonien (Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra), is stellar. Production values are very high too. 2L’s fiendishly advanced recording process is outlined in the booklet. Which wouldn’t matter if the results weren’t intensely musical. Listen with closed eyes and you can visualize exactly where the players are sitting.

Graham Rickson - Source