Septura brings musical Kleptomania to life

The brass ensemble is a relatively modern concept and so the brass septet Septura has to be imaginative in their approach to repertoire. Their current concert series, Kleptomania, explores a variety of different borrowings, transferring repertoire from one place to another whether it be baroque music or classic songs.

The ensemble is performing its Borrowed Baroque programme at St Jude’s Proms on 27 June, at St Jude's, Church, Hampstead Garden Suburb. Here, the 18th-century orchestra of Handel’s Rinaldo and Rameau’s Dardanus is brought to life in borrowings for brass, whilst Septura’s Pergolesi, by contrast, is third-hand: Stravinsky got there first, and his neoclassical Pulcinella is re-imagined for brass, alongside some early neoclassical piano works by Prokofiev.

Their Song Swag programme is being presented at West Road Concert Hall (9 July) and St John's Smith Square (10 July). This programme moves from transcriptions of Fauré’s mélodies and Ravel’s Mother Goose, to Gershwin’s Songbook and iconic An American in Paris, especially arranged for brass and solo car-horns.

Septura's players hold principal positions in the London Symphony, Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony, Basel Symphony and Aurora orchestras. Between them, the players teach at the Royal Academy of Music and Royal College of Music, in London, and the Birmingham Conservatoire.

Full details from the Septura website.