Review

Tielman Susato
La Danserye :

Arranged by Robert Fisco

Brass Trio: C trumpet, F horn, bass trombone

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 2022
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com

Score and parts.

Primary Genre: Brass Ensemble - 3 brass

Robert Fisco’s arrangement of Tielman Sustao’s La Danserye is an engaging collection of dances for brass trio. Donated for review by Cherry Classics Music, this compilation of iconic dances of 1551 is transposed and recast for trumpet, horn, and bass trombone. While many quartet transcriptions of this work balance historic and urtext editions, this performance edition contributes a fresh interpretation; preserving the melody, setting the work into contemporary notation with various repeated sections, and incorporating D.C. and Codas to ease legibility. Some of the bass line rhythms have been simplified. As extensive phrasings have been included throughout the work, some may wish to consult reference urtext editions, such as F.J. Giesbert’s Schott edition, to consider smaller scope slurs. The inclusion of a novel horn inner voice balances the texture and strengthens this adaptation. The parts are easy to read, with both C trumpet and B-flat transpositions. As the bass trombone part only descends to a low E-flat in the final dance, this can be readily played on tenor trombone with F-attachment or reconciled through octave displacement. While uncommon to see the customary key signature transposition for horn only incorporated in the second dance, the other dances employ sufficient accidentals. These dances include: La Mourisque, Bransle Quatre Bransles, Bergeret, Ronde et Salterelle, Mon Amy, and Ronde. While translations abound, as one prepares program notes for this work, I invite the reader to speculate as to whether the 16th century dance title “Mon Amy” corresponds to the French Mon Ami “My friend” or more personal affection “My Amy.” This is a welcome trio arrangement of iconic Susato Danserye dances, suitable for a range of playing abilities and audiences alike.