Brass Quintet Nr. 1
Karen P. Thomas
About this work:
Brass Quintet Nr. 1 was commissioned and premiered by the Emerald City Brass Quintet in Seattle in 1987. It has received numerous subsequent performances, including the International Congress on Women in Music in Bilbao, Spain, the Donne in Musica Festival in Rome, and at the Ernest Bloch Music Festival in Newport, Oregon.
The first movement is based upon the whole tone scale, beginning with a three-pitch motif, and contains an extensive non-whole tone chromatic middle section.
The second movement is based upon melodic, harmonic and rhythmic structures found in the second Kyrie of Guillaume de Machaut's Messe le Nostre Dame. At times the allusions to Machaut's mass are quite apparent, particularly in the use of recognizable cadential figures, while at other times they form an underlying structure which is not perceptible.
Year composed: 1987
Duration: 00:10:00
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice:Brass Quintet
Instrumentation: 1 Horn in F, 2 Trumpet, 1 Trombone, 1 Tuba
Instrumentation notes: 2 tpt, hn, trb, tba