Brass Quintet #3
16’ 1997-2023
For Brass Quintet (2 trumpets in C, Trombone, Horn, Tuba)
The brass quintet has attracted me many times for all sorts of reasons. This one is the best, although it remains unperformed. I finished it when I still lived near Boston, then make some adjustments 25 years later. It remains unperformed, perhaps because of the technical difficulties it presents. I think this is the first piece I completed based on a twelve-tone row, although the row is treated as something of a leitmotif.
The piece begins with a deceptively simple fanfare, not atypical of the genre. From then, things become more interesting. The centerpiece is a frenzied toccata. We finally arrive at the finale which returns to the opening fanfare with considerable modification.
If you’re attracted by the piece, please request a score (at the end of this page) and let’s talk.
This render also presented in binaural form. Binaural may give you an enhanced sense of space in headphones. The binaural presented here was generated from a Dolby Atmos mix.
Complete Piece
1 - Fanfare. Short and simple, to be revisited in the last movement
2 - Irregularities. Played in mutes, with clashing meters between groups
3 - Toccato. A wild movement, with much close counterpoint
4 - Canzona. Song-like with alternating theme and chorales. Sounds quite tonal (but it isn’t)
5 - Reprisals. The fanfare again, this time torn to shreds
Watch it with score on Youtube