Tower Music

[DonShirer]

Back in the Baroque era, German towns used to hire musicians to play Ratsmusic (council music--no relation to the Pied Piper) from towers for the enjoyment of the burghers. I used to have an LP entitled "Tower Music" but it has long since disappeared during my many moves.

Our band director is interested in featuring an example of this genre from that era, and I am hunting for a nice example among composers like Gabrieli, Reiche, Fasch, Telemann and Battista.

If anyone happens to have a suggestion of a specific number or another composer I would appreciate it, and if by a miraculous coincidence you have that very record, I would be rapturous if you could list the selections included!

[PaulMaybery]

One composer who comes to mind is Johan Pezel. ("Hora Decima") I believe there is a recording on the old Philadelphia Brass Ensemble: "The Glorious Sounds of Brass," on Columbia, from the mid 1960s. (Seems like yesterday.) Nevertheless, there are a number of Robert King Editions of this music from which Philly had recorded which were part of the regular diet for brass quintets.

FWIW: There are also some very authentic editions of the Pezel in their original keys. (Musica Rara) However, King's editions are somewhat more agreeable to modern ears in that they are often transposed down a step or two to the more natural keys of modern Bb and F instruments.

[imperialbari]

IMSLP has 50+ five-part pieces by Pezel in modern engravins. Not that I have looked through all of them, but there appears to be

full score in concert notation

parts for trumpets in C and in Bb representing original parts for zink

bass clef parts for 3 trombones, where the original parts were in the alto, tenor, and bass clefs respectively to fit the ranges of the alto, tenor, and bass trombones asked for

at least some of the settings have a part for horn in F intended to substitute the 1st trombone part

http://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Pezel,_Johann_Christoph

Klaus

[DonShirer]

Thanks to both of you, your advice was a bit of Pezel-Mazel-tov! I just spent the last half-hour transcribing (and transposing) his Intrada #13. It's short, but I'm sure that among his many other quintets I can find two more to make up a representative set.