Welcome to the website of Boxwood & Brass, specialists in the wind music of the late 18th & early 19th centuries.
Here you can read about us, listen to us, & find out where to see us. Or explore the links above to discover the world of the 18th century ‘Harmonie’ & the instruments we use to re-create it!
“Joyous listening… enchanting, funny and exciting” The Arts Desk
“dazzlingly persuasive advocates of the form” BBC Music Magazine
"Boxwood & Brass's sound is nothing short of revelatory" Early Music Today
"button-bright performances caught in a sympathetic acoustic... performed with spirit and vigour” Gramophone
"Spectacular playing " Robert Hugill
"outstanding, both technically and musically." Andrew Benson-Wilson
“The amazing Georgian music just added to the magical atmosphere and sense that we had somehow stepped back in time.”
Madame Guillotine (Melanie Clegg). Read more here.
News and Blog
Featured
-
RT @ECWorthington: An inspiring and uncompromising interview about arts funding, class and aspiration. I’ve just spent a week touring… https://t.co/pTrpe15f6h -
RT @ECWorthington: It’s a year since I collected my beautiful basset clarinet from Paris! Can’t wait to give it its first proper outin… https://t.co/TLljh25unW
-
RT @ECWorthington: Who wants to come and work on my new research project? 0.4FTE role for 20 months working on an online multimedia mo… https://t.co/r6dS3dJ158
Though small five- and six-part Harmonien were probably the most common wind ensembles until after 1800, the best-known example of Harmoniemusik is the wind octet. The octet of oboes, clarinets, horns and bassoons, sometimes with double bass or contrabassoon, was popularized by Emperor Joseph II during the 1780s. Joseph’s ‘kaiserlich und königlich Harmonie’ (k. k. Harmonie) was assembled in 1782 from wind players from his Burgtheater. Many similar groups subsequently appeared in the courts of other Viennese nobles such as Prince Alois von Liechtenstein, and further afield, particularly where Viennese influence was felt or Joseph’s favour courted.
The k. k. Harmonie was renowned throughout the empire…