This book is the first to deal with an aspect of twentieth-century music that is not covered in detail elsewhere: it traces the origins, stimuli and legacies of the modern brass ensemble, celebrates the vitality and diversity of its music-making and brings together information on its performance practice, repertory, reception and cultures. The study ultimately focuses on developments in Britain in the second half of the twentieth century, but refers extensively to other periods and loci where events caused interactions, influence and change.

What is currently perceived as a modern ‘brass ensemble’ in Britain and beyond barely existed in the first half of the twentieth century; antecedents in Paris in the mid-nineteenth century and St Petersburg at the turn of the twentieth century were largely unknown in Britain at that time. Following World War II, the brass quintet and other orchestral groupings emerged in the United States and in Europe; the practices and repertoires associated with these modern groups came from professional players playing orchestral instruments.

By far the most acclaimed British brass ensemble of the late twentieth century was the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble. From its foundation in 1951 it rose from simple beginnings to establish an international reputation by the time it disbanded in 1986. Many consider that this ensemble initiated a wide cultural and social understanding of brass chamber music, eventually earning as similar critical attention as leading string quartets and other branches of art music. Other ensembles in Britain and overseas emulated its musical models, and a nucleus of performers, composers and like-minded parties increased ensembles’ recognition and momentum from the 1960s. The brass quintet, ten-piece ensemble and trombone quartet remain popular formations, and repertoire exists for larger directed ensembles with percussion.

Music-making by small groups of brass instruments in various guises has a long history, and two strands of development can be traced. One stretches back into the art music tradition, including European instrumental music of the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical periods. Transcription for modern brass instruments and ensuing historically informed performance are studied in detail. A second strand of activity materialised in the nineteenth century with the advent of families of chromatic brass; the emergence of both professional and amateur idioms at that time includes the amateur British brass band.