Malcolm Arnold was one of the finest of orchestral trumpet players, becoming one of the youngest musicians ever to be a principal instrumentalist in a major London orchestra (the London Philharmonic). It is natural that his brass pieces are universally held in high esteem by players. Even knowing this, one is unprepared for the inventiveness and range encountered in this three-movement, twelve-minute work, one of the mainstays of the brass quintet literature. All sorts of articulation, including soulful legato playing as well as crisp staccato passages, light and tripping passages as well as the powerful and assertive sound that inspired the adjective "brazen, " are present in this, one of the very finest works of its type, part of the core repertoire for this sort of ensemble.

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