This recording (again, click the icon at right) was made in 1988 by the Empire Brass and Friends. The "Friends" were mostly Boston Symphony Orchestra musicians and Boston area free-lancers. It is interesting that Harvey Phillips noted that the 1968 Philadelphia/Cleveland/Chicago Brass recording would be impossible to duplicate because this recording obviously aims to do just that. While there is quite a bit of variation in selection, the liner notes include a "score card" that is almost identical to the earlier recording. It was recorded at the Berkshire Performing Arts Center, which is actually a gym with very special acoustic properties (I've been there to witness another Empire Brass recording), and also attempts to recreate the Gabrieli sound stereophonically. This later recording is clearly an "homage" to the legendary 1968 performance.
This performance of Canzon duodecimi toni also focuses largely on grandiosity. The full, loud sections are at least as loud and "orchestral-sounding" as the previous recording, but in the softer, lighter sections, the musicians clearly concentrate on lightness and clarity of articulation, which is particularly noticeable in the dance rhythms and florid runs. By 1988, quality period instrument performances and recordings had begun to appear, but were by no means standard practice. When listening to this recording, I can't help but feel that Empire Brass and their "Friends" were aware of the emerging period instrument movement and tried to incorporate some of the stylistic attributes, but nonetheless had the older recording in their ears.
In this recording of Sonata pian e forte, the Canadian Brass joins forces with five members of the Berlin Philharmonic brass section to form a double brass quintet. The recording was made in 1984 at Jesus Christus Kirche in Berlin. What strikes me as interesting about this performance is how briskly it moves along compared to other recordings. There's a kind of crispness, both in speed and articulation, not found in the other recordings presented here. Also, the Sonata pian e forte was written for eight players and here they use ten, witch includes two tubas. This initially sounds like it would be very inauthentic, but when you consider that Gabrieli often had an organ double the bass of each choir, maybe using tubas is a reasonable simulation of this added weight. A key feature of this piece is the fact that it was among the earliest to use dynamic indications in the music. This recording clearly observes those markings, without over-blowing the forte sections. They seem to be allowing the acoustics of the church to project their sounds, instead of their own muscularity.
This recording of Canzon primi toni a 10, made by members of the London Symphony Orchestra Brass section under the direction of Eric Crees at London's All Hallows Church in 2001, to me, represents the most authentic of the modern instrument recordings. Only trumpets and trombones are used, and the musicians take a much lighter approach to the music, particularly in terms of dynamics and articulation. They are obviously aware of the many fine period instrument performances today and seem to be striving to keep authenticity in mind, even as they use their larger, modern instruments. It is as if they know that the music will be grand-sounding simply due to the forces used, size of their instruments and size of the performance space--they don't have to work hard to make it sound grand, they just have to play beautiful music in a singing manner. I love their approach!
The main difference between this and the recording of His magestys Sagbutts and Cornetts is tempo. The LSO players are considerably more brisk.
