The invention of valved brass instruments in the early nineteenth century transformed the musical landscape. Prior to this innovation brass instruments were performed in a variety of ways with keys, slides, holes and the placement of the hand in the bell of the instruments. This programme showcases the fertile imaginations of composers associated with the French school of brass playing, many of whom were immigrants to the country. The programme includes the earliest quintets for brass by Jean François Bellon, whose compositions were described as “an exceptional sort of symphony” which “place him high among the class of musical innovators and originators” and the masterpiece that is orientalist Félicien David’s Nonet in C minor.

This concert has been made possible thanks to the generous support of the Continuo Foundation.