Host: The Planets Buzz Ensemble

• 1I. Mars, the Bringer of War07:33
• 2II. Venus, the Bringer of Peace09:08
• 3III. Mercury, the Winged Messenger04:51
• 4IV. Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity09:01
• 5V. Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age08:51
• 6VI. Uranus, the Magician06:20
• 7VII. Neptune, the Mystic09:34
• Total Runtime55:18

Info for Host: The Planets

Buzz and organist Mélanie Barney unite to offer a personalized version of The Planets. This true icon of the symphonic repertoire that made English composer Gustav Holst famous, depicts the astrological personality of seven planets in the solar system. Let the sound of the organ and the brass take you away on a majestic interplanetary voyage!

Previously known for its multidisciplinary productions and educational performances, Buzz affirms its rigorous artistic choices in this third recording and establishes its inherent musical quality.

Bouncing onto the stage with vim and vivacity, Buzz Brass began with a rousing fanfare, demonstrating their technical mastery. Their obvious love of playing quickly drew the audience into a warm relationship with them. Spokesman Sylvain Lapointe used a disarmingly humorous approach, which endeared us as the night went on. Melanie Barney impressed with her sensitive and powerful playing of the magnificent Casavant organ. Her opening Toc- cata was lively and forceful.

The power of the group was amply demonstrated as bass trombone, French horn, euphonium and trumpets prefaced the mighty seven-movement Planets by Gustav Holst. The first movement was powerfully martial, as organ and brass interfaced and we began to appreciate the glorious ensemble and technically challenging playing, as discord and syncopation heralded the 20th century.

Planets demanded rigorous playing and stamina over the hour it took. The Magician, with its Circuslike Calliope organ sounds, drew this wonderful concert to conclusion. (Geoff Mulholland, The Barrie Examiner)

Mélanie Barney, Organ
Buzz Ensemble are:
Frédéric Gagnon, Trumpet
Sylvain Lapointe, Trumpet
Pascal Lafrenière, Horn
Jason De Carufel, Trombone
Sylvain Arseneau, Bass Trombone

Transcription by Enrico O. Dastous

Buzz
is an ensemble made up of two trumpets, a horn, a trombone and a bass trombone. Created in 2002, it is dedicated to promoting chamber music for brass ensemble to audiences worldwide. This is achieved through records as well as high quality performances and entertaining musical shows. The ensemble’s musical repertoire encompasses many styles and periods. Its original arrangements give every carefully selected work a distinctive twist.

Since its beginnings, Buzz Brass has presented more than 500 concerts and “musitheatrical” shows all over Canada, thus reaching over 100,000 spectators. In those shows, music and theatre are combined in perfect harmony. An actor impersonates all the main characters while the musicians play supporting roles. In 2007, Buzz Brass was awarded the OPUS Prize—Production of the Year / Young Audiences for its show The History of Music (other finalists had included, among others, both the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and I Musici).

The ensemble’s first three recordings were widely acclaimed by critics and several of its musical performances were broadcast on radio and television. For its first international outing, the ensemble gave a performance at the Paris Louvre museum in the context of Musicora 2008. The group has been nominated to the 2010 Album of the Year ADISQ Award in the Classical / Solo and Chamber Ensemble category.

Melanie Barney is a graduate of the Conservatory of Music in Montreal. In 2001, she obtained her graduate degree II (control) and the first prize with distinction in organ with Jean Le Buis. It was perfected with Pierre Perdigon, Georges Bessonnet, Alan Morrison and Jean-Guy Proulx. Recipient of several scholarships, such as foundations Wilfrid-Pelletier, Friends of the Arts and McAbbie Canimex she also won a scholarship from the Faculty of Music at UQAM for Bachelor of Education. In 2001 and 2002, she won the national final in organ at the Canadian Music Competition and the Young Artists Auditions in 2003 Radio-Canada. .... An accomplished musician, soloist and accompanist sought, Melanie Barney occurred in France, Germany, Belgium and the United States. She was founder and artistic director of the Organ Concert Series & Co. for 5 years, from 2000 to 2005. A versatile artist, is as a pianist she co-founded in 2009 all Danza, which has mostly tangos and gypsy music. Titular organist of Notre-Dame de Lourdes in Verdun in 1998, it remains an active concert on the Canadian music scene. .... She has participated in numerous recordings with choirs, orchestras and chamber music as well as LAUDEM Publishing and the Festival Orgue et Couleurs, whose first CD is titled Génération.orgue. In 2009, she recorded the Planets by Gustav Holst label Fidelio with the brass quintet Buzz. Melanie Barney is currently undertaking studies in Management of Cultural Organizations at HEC Montreal.

Gustav Holst (Born: 1874-1934)
Country: England
Period: 20th Century
Known primarily for his popular orchestral composition, The Planets, Gustav Holst embraced a wide variety of musical models, from Arthur Sullivan, Edvard Grieg, and Wagner to the melodic simplicity of English folk music. In his maturity, he managed to merge these various influences into a rather sparse personal style that became increasingly transparent in his later years. Perhaps his greatest talent lay in the realm of choral music; his Hymn of Jesus stands as one of the finest works in the genre from the early twentieth century.

Holst's first instruction came from his father, Adolph, a piano teacher, who also made him take lessons on the violin and trombone; the father believed that these studies might alleviate the youth's asthma.

By age 12, the young Holst was composing, even dabbling in orchestration; in 1888, he won a prize in an amateur competition for his vocal work, A Christmas Carol. Thereafter he sang in the All Saints' Church choir and played violin and trombone in its orchestra. In 1892, he traveled to London and heard a Covent Garden performance of Götterdämmerung, led by Mahler. The experience opened up new compositional vistas for the young composer.

Holst entered the Royal College of Music the following year where he met fellow student Ralph Vaughan Williams, who would remain a close lifelong friend. Shortly after his arrival in London, Holst found that the neuritis in his right arm, which had afflicted him in his early youth, had worsened and now caused him to abandon ideas of a career as a concert pianist. In 1898, Holst left the RCM to take a position in the Carl Rosa Opera Company as rehearsal pianist and coach. He completed his Cotswold Symphony in 1900, and its premiere in April 1902 was a success. On June 22, 1901, Holst married Emily Isobel Harrison, whom he had met in a choir he had directed a few years before.

In late 1903, Holst took on a teaching position at James Allen's Girls' School, in South London. The following year he acquired a second post, the directorship of music at St. Paul's Girls' School, which he would retain until his death. He added another teaching post at Morley College in 1907, bogging him down and leaving little time for composition. Still, the St. Paul's Suite, written during this period (1912-1913), is among his most often-performed works.

In 1914, Holst began work on what would become his most popular composition, The Planets. The war years were extremely productive, as the composer not only completed The Planets, but also wrote Hymn of Jesus. In spring 1918, Holst began educational work for the YMCA at its various facilities on European battlefields.

He returned to London at the end of June 1919 and took a prestigious post teaching theory and composition at the RCM in 1920. The composer's fame was not only growing domestically in the early 1920s but internationally as well, as works like the Hymn of Jesus were receiving regular and acclaimed performances. By 1924, Holst's health was clearly declining, and he thus lessened his workload.

This album contains no booklet.