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In 1968, the combined brass choirs of the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Cleveland Orchestra got together and made a "legendary" recording of the works of Gabrieli.

In your opinion, does this recording still stand the test of time? It is pretty old. Recording tech is much better now. It can probably be argued that some of today's players are better than the "giants" of the past. Stylistically, we might not play these pieces like how they did back then. They also supposedly did the recordings in hurried conditions, and some were allegedly done in one take with no editing.

Yet, I find this recording very enjoyable despite the "knocks" I suggested above. What's your take?

Still great in my book. Can't wait to get my new sound system with turntable so I can play my copy after almost 50 years. It has been sealed and stored almost since new and only played maybe 6 times. I always used to dub new records to tape with a good Roberts recorder then seal the record so it would not get worn.

It’s an amazing, iconic album. Pardon the use of an overused (iconic) word, but in this case it applies.

I have many other recordings of these works but none that I like better.

I read an interesting take on Heaven one time, that after death we can go anywhere, anytime in all of human history to observe anything we want. When thinking of places/times I'd like to visit, this recording session immediately came to mind.

I love this recording for the same reasons the rest of you do -- I grew up listening to it and it's full of my heroes exhibiting fantastic ensemble playing, sensitivity, and musicianship. However, and I hope I don't get tarred and feathered for this, the style is so utterly inappropriate for early baroque music that it's hard for me to listen to. And it's so influential that it has perpetuated that inappropriate interpretation to generations of musicians. So, while I think it's amazing, it's a little bit tarnished for me because I wish more players would listen to early music specialists perform the repertoire and incorporate that into their concept of how to play this music.

For those of you who have worn out their vinyl records of this, it has been remastered on CD about 15 years ago.

An amazingly awesome album.

Also, an instruction on how not to play Gabrielli.

I much prefer this performance of Gabrieli works:

https://csosoundsandstories.org/nationa ... nic-album/" target="_blank

The photo was taken at Sonoma State University in northern California. I and many hundreds of other brass players attended the concert there. The ensemble's standard of playing was astonishing.

Ace

ursatz wrote:An amazingly awesome album.

Also, an instruction on how not to play Gabrielli.

For comparison, which recordings do you recommend?

I also grew up listening to this album. The ones that came after weren't quite up to the standards of this album. Within the last few years, though, this one came out and it's pretty good. I'm not sure which one I prefer:

https://www.amazon.com/Gabrielli-Nation ... B014E1TMHC" target="_blank" target="_blank

Bill Troiano wrote:I also grew up listening to this album. The ones that came after weren't quite up to the standards of this album. Within the last few years, though, this one came out and it's pretty good. I'm not sure which one I prefer:

https://www.amazon.com/Gabrielli-Nation ... B014E1TMHC" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank

Until I read Bill's reply above, I was not aware of the National Brass Ensemble project, so, I did some searching of Youtube and found this link to a documentary of the making of the recording that Bill cited. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHs4W3bdReI

USTuba08 wrote: For comparison, which recordings do you recommend?

https://www.amazon.com/Gabrieli-G-Canzo ... 000KRNKW8/" target="_blank
https://www.amazon.com/Gabrieli-Sonate- ... 00004SCUL/" target="_blank
https://www.amazon.com/Gabrieli-Sacrae- ... 00F007S0K/" target="_blank
https://www.amazon.com/Gabrieli-Canzona ... 000002ZYO/" target="_blank
https://www.amazon.com/Venetian-Coronat ... 0080EG7LO/" target="_blank
https://www.amazon.com/Gabrieli-Sanctis ... 077Z81HQR/" target="_blank
https://www.amazon.com/Venetian-Music-D ... 000004443/" target="_blank

Nobody knows this probably, but was this recording the genesis of the act of "taking the last note of the piece down an octave just for fun"?

On several of the tracks, at least one of the tuba players are doing this. DO NOT tell me "no they aren't, the intonation is just soooo good, what you are actually hearing is just an undertone."

bbocaner wrote:the style is so utterly inappropriate for early baroque music

If period sounds with sackbutts, etc. played with early baroque styling is what you're aiming for, the first step would be:

Bye-bye tubas. That sound that we love didn't exist before the mid-1800's.

OTOH, if you're willing to accept on any level such "non-HIP" recordings as this one, or Stokowski transcriptions, etc., then one can appreciate the recording for what it is.

I have a friend who has that record. We listened to it in high school to prepare for taking the triple brass choir selections to state contest. We were able to spread out in the gymnasium where the judging for large ensembles was done far apart enough to get the acoustics right, but close enough together to still be in tempo and phase, as the judges were at "center court." Yes, we got the "I" rating!!!

Steve Marcus wrote:

bbocaner wrote:the style is so utterly inappropriate for early baroque music

If period sounds with sackbutts, etc. played with early baroque styling is what you're aiming for, the first step would be:

Bye-bye tubas. That sound that we love didn't exist before the mid-1800's.

OTOH, if you're willing to accept on any level such "non-HIP" recordings as this one, or Stokowski transcriptions, etc., then one can appreciate the recording for what it is.

It's possible to use modern instruments but still respect the music.