Polygon For Brass Quintet
David P. Sartor
About this work:
Winner of the National Fine Arts Award in Composition, presented by Illinois State University. Premiered November 1993, Illinois State University.
Like the geometric figure of the same name, POLYGON presents a closed structure of tangent themes with but one common center. The center is an eight-pitch motto sequence stated at the beginning by the horn, consisting of a three-pitch descending figure repeated one step lower and followed by a turn upward. Although the full motto is heard frequently, the three-pitch descending figure soon becomes a motivic obsession of the work. This motive is found embedded in subsequent themes and transitions and occurs in a variety of background guises; even the tonal centers marking the ends of the three movements trace its shape.
Year composed: 1992
Duration: 00:17:30
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice:Unknown
Instrumentation: 1 Horn in F, 2 Trumpet, 1 Trombone, 1 Tuba