The annual CSO Brass concert puts a festive accent on music of Spain

The annual December concert spotlighting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s famed brass section has become a beloved Windy City tradition. 

“There is nothing quite like this concert, because we’re packed to the rafters, and we often sell extra seats onstage. That atmosphere and the anticipation is really like no other,” said Michael Mulcahy, a CSO trombone who also serves as director of the CSO Brass.

This year’s edition of the brass concert, scheduled for Dec. 19, will showcase 16 brass and three percussion, including timpani. 

In addition to members of the CSO’s brass section, the line-up will also feature a few guest artists. “We need pinch-hitters,” Mulcahy said. “The music we do is pretty extravagant. So we have extra musicians coming in.”

This year, those extras include a player from the Detroit Symphony, as well as faculty members of the Northwestern University and Indiana University music schools. “We call the best players we can get every year,” Mulcahy said. “It’s difficult because everyone’s busy at this time of the year.”

This year’s concert will be the first to involve Mark Almond, the CSO’s recently appointed principal horn. He previously served as associate principal horn of the San Francisco Symphony. “It will be an experience like no other for him,” Mulcahy said.

Although the CSO brass section presented a few scattered concerts over the years, it began its annual concerts in 2006, always presenting them in December in part to coincide with the Midwest Clinic, an international band, orchestra and music conference that draws 18,000 attendees.

The concert does not include specifically holiday music, but it provides a festive, high-energy line-up that audiences of all ages can enjoy — both Chicago-area residents and out-of-towners in town for the yuletide.

“It’s a musical extravaganza that features the Chicago Symphony — but just the brass,” Mulcahy said. “So the program is always designed in quality and depth to reflect the level of the Chicago Symphony. I’m always looking for very strong music, as well as very engaging music, and obviously, we want to showcase what our brass players can do.”

But Mulcahy is quick to point out that the event is not just about entertainment. “There is a genre of brass quintets that are very successful and very good, presenting a kind of a show. Often there is a bit schtick — costumes, gags and things. The best group that does that is Mnozil Brass from Vienna. They are really incredible.”

The CSO brass takes a more serious approach while still managing to have plenty of fun. “We’re the Chicago Symphony,” Mulcahy said. “We’re not really stage people. We’re not Hollywood people. We’re the musicians. To be in the Chicago Symphony is a big responsibility, a big honor and a big thrill, and this is our special chance every year to shine on our own.”

Inspired in part by Esteban Batallán, the CSO’s Spanish-born principal trumpet, this year’s program puts an emphasis on Spanish music, including works by composers such as Joaquín Turina (1882-1949) and Andrés Gaos Berea (1874-1959).

“This is tremendously expressive and intense music,” Mulcahy said. “Some of it’s very rhythmical, some of it is very romantic. It’s a very rich part of the repertoire that is probably not well known enough.”

Batallán and Mulcahy are both members of the CSO brass quintet, which toured Japan in October. The two had plenty of time to talk about repertoire for the Dec. 19 program during plane rides to and from Japan, as well as train trips across the country. 

The program’s most famous Spanish work is a brass arrangement of Manuel de Falla’s Suite No. 2 from The Three-Cornered Hat. Rounding out the Spanish selections is O Vos Omnes by Pablo Casals (1876-1973), best known as one of the 20th-century’s great cellists.

The program opens with an arrangement of J.S. Bach’s famous organ work, Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C major, BWV 564, which the CSO brass quintet played in Japan. “It’s such a great piece that we decided to include it here,” Mulcahy said.

Mulcahy will play trombone for the performance of that work, and then he will serve as conductor for the rest of the concert. In addition to leading the CSO Brass, he regularly takes the podium at the Grand Teton Music Festival in Wyoming and has guest conducted ensembles such as the Sydney Symphony and Royal Danish Orchestra.

The CSO Brass will follow the Bach opener with a world premiere of work related to it, Daniel Chevallier’s Fantasy for Brass Ensemble on Bach’s chorale Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan. The composer is a trombonist working to expand the brass repertoire through transcriptions and new works.

“It begins with the chorale, and it finishes with the chorale, but then it does a very contemporary exploration,” Mulcahy said. “It’s a very exciting piece actually. He’s done a terrific job of reimagining Bach from a completely different point of view.”

Opening the second half is a fanfare titled Notezart, a title that plays on Mozart’s last name. The 2016 piece for brass ensemble and percussion was written by American composer Cindy McTee, whose works have been performed internationally. 

“It’s a showy, flashy thing,” Mulcahy said. “It has lots of percussion and just a few little Mozart quotes here and there — kind of tongue in cheek.”