Download The English composer Edward Gregson is one of the most important

FACULTY CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES—Oct. 7, 2015
Faculty Chamber Music Series
Program Information
QUINTET for BRASS (1967)
Edward Gregson (b 1945)
I. Andante Sostenuto—Allegro scherzando
II. Allegro moto ritmico—Meno mosso-Tempo I.
A VERDI MEDLEY
Go for Brass Quintet (2014)
arr. John Mindeman
Anthony DiLorenzo
The LaMoine Brass Quintet
Bruce Briney, trumpet
Alberto Racanati, trumpet
Randall Faust, Horn
Terry Solomonson, tuba
Intermission
New, Original works by members of the
Hopper Jazztet
It’s A Matter Of Timing
Struttin’
BlueCheer Beacon
InTownSamba(1992)
Michael Stryker
GeorgeTurner
JohnCooper
PROGRAM NOTES
QUINTET for BRASS (1967)
Edward Gregson
The English composer Edward Gregson is one of the most important
composers of brass music of the past half century. Although he has major
works for wind bands and orchestral works recorded and performed bythe
B.B.C. Philharmonic, his compositions for brass instruments are particularly
significant. The Quintet for Brass has become one of the important
standard works in the brass chamber music repertoire. The first performance
was given at the Royal Academy of Music in London
The composer has provided the following program notes:
This work was written in 1967 as a graduation piece whilst I was a student at
the Royal Academy of Music. It won the coveted Frederick Corder
memorial prize.
In the audience at the first performance, given by a student brass quintet,
was Philip Jones, who took up the work and gave it its first professional
performance as well as a broadcast on BBC Radio 3. Soon after, the Quintet
was also taken up by Hallé Brass, who recorded it commercially. It was the
composer’s first published work with Novello, who remain as his main
publisher today. The work is dedicated to the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble.
The Quintet is in two movements. The first movement is in three sections
marked Andante sostenuto, Allegro scherzando, followed by a reprise of the
opening Andante. The opening horn melody, built on fourths, provides much
of the material for the movement. The answering semiquaver rhythms on
muted trumpets become the background accompaniment for the middle
section scherzo. This scherzo is frenetic in character and consists of upward
leaping sevenths, with various effects such as trills, flutter-tongues, and
glissandi. The opening tranquil section returns, this time in canonic form.
The second movement is marked Allegro molto ritmico and the march-like
character of the music is apparent from the outset. The movement is cast in
rondo form and the main theme is built on arpeggio-like figures on the
trumpets. The first episode is more lyrical and slightly ‘bluesy’ with the horn
taking the lead, whilst the second is a fugato built on the opening melody of
the work, but this time extended into a twelve-note chromatic subject. The
opening rondo tune returns and the work concludes with a brilliant coda.
(edwardgregson.com)
GObyAnthonyDiLorenzo
EmmyAwardwinningcomposerAnthonyDiLorenzogrewupin
StoughtonMassachusetts.Hismusicisperformedthroughouttheworld
bysymphonyorchestrasandchambergroups,includingTheSan
FranciscoSymphony,TheNewWorldSymphony,TheLouisiana
Philharmonic,TheUtahSymphony,TheTokyoSymphony,andThe
BostonPopsOrchestra.BurningRiverBrassunderthedirectionofFeza
Zweifel,regularlyperformsAnthony’sworksintheirconcerts.Youcan
alsohearhismusicweeklyonABC'sCollegeFootball,IceSkating,Horse
racingandcountlesscuesforESPN,HBO,FOXandnumerouscampaigns
forNBC
ForthepasttwelveyearsAnthonyhascomposedmorethan80film
trailers,fromToyStory,TheLeagueofExtraordinaryGentlemen,Red
Dragon,TheLostWorld,FinalFantasy,FoolsGold,BeeStorytoThe
Simpsonsmoviein3D.Recently,Anthonywascommissionedby
conductorNaotoOtomoandtheTokyoSymphonytocomposea
concertogrossoforBrassQuintetandorchestra.Thequintettitled
ChimerawasperformedbytheworldfamousCenterCityBrassQuintet
andwasreceivedwithravereviews.AnthonyisamemberoftheCenter
CityBrassQuintetwhichisanotheravenueforhiscompositionaltalent.
Hisoriginalwork"Firedance",whichtheCCBQpremieredandrecorded
onitsStreetSongalbum,hasbecomeafavoriteamongstudentand
professionalbrassquintetsaroundtheworld.
DiLorenzo'sbrassquintetGo,isarhythmicallyenergeticpiecethat
impliesavarietyofmetersthroughconstantlyshiftingaccentsandthe
repetitionanddisplacementofmotivicpatterns.Eveninit'sbrevity,the
workdisplaysavarietyofcharactersinit'sdrivingexpositionfrom
dance-likebuoyancytosyncopatedlyricismasitracestoabrilliant
conclusion.
Program notes
Lamoine Brass Quintet, Oct 7
A Verdi Medley was conceived during the summer of 2015. It was written
for the Lamoine Brass Quintet and dedicated to Alberto Racanati, graduate
trumpet assistant and second trumpet of the LBQ. This arrangement
contains select well-known passages from a number of Verdi’s operas
including, in this order:
The Overture to Nabucco
The Overture to La Forza del Destino
“La donna e mobile” from Rigoletto
“Sempre Libera” from La Traviata
“Libiamo ne’ lieti calici” (or “Brindisi”) from La Traviata
The Overture to I Vespri Siciliani,
The Quartet from act 3 of Rigoletto
The Overture to I Vespri Siciliani
The Finale (“tutti gabbati”) from Falstaff
Arranger’s note: I came to love the music of Verdi as I had the privilege of
performing his operas with the Santiago Philharmonic, Chicago Opera
Theater, and the Lyric Opera of Chicago. I found that his melodies got
“stuck” in my mind, and so I searched for an opportunity to arrange some
Verdi for brass. Since we now have a fine young Italian trumpet player as
part of the group, there was no better time. In the arrangement, my intent
was to feature the trumpets prominently and highlight some of the drama,
variety, and lyricism that are so much a part of Verdi’s music.
(John Mindeman)
It’sAMatterOfTimingandStruttin’werewrittenin2003whileIwasadoctoral
studentintheJazzandContemporaryMediaprogramattheEastmanSchoolof
Music.Isetasagoalaprogramoforiginalcompositionsfortheinitialdegreerecital
inmyplanofstudy.It’sAMatterofTimingisaballadoriginallyscoredforoctet(5
hornsplusrhythmsection)andadaptedfor2hornsandrhythmsectionfortonight’s
performance.Thepieceisthroughcomposed,20measureslong,andincludessome
changesinmeter.Struttin’isamediumtemposwingtune.Thefirstphrasewas
inspiredbyBennyGolson’scompositionAlongCameBetty.Therestoftunehas
someofmyfavoritecompositionaldevices,includingpedalpointsandii-V-I
progressionsaccessingdistantkeycenters.Thephrasesareinan8+4+8+8
relationshipinthefirsthalfofthetune,andan8+4+9relationshipinthesecond
half.--Michael Stryker
BlueCheerandBeaconwerebothwrittenin2008,whileIwasadoctoralstudentin
jazzstudiesattheUniversityofIllinoisatUrbana-Champaign.BlueCheerisbasically
abluesinEflat,buthasan18-measureform.Thefirst8barsarebasedontheEb
bluesscale,followedbya4barsectionwhichmodulatesabluesmotifdownin
wholestepsviaaseriesofii-Vprogressions.Thefinal6barphraseprovidesmelodic
contrastandusesaharmonicprogressionsimilartothatofJohnColtrane’sCentral
ParkWest.Beaconisamodal/postboptuneinspiredbythecompositionalstyleof
saxophonistJoeHenderson.Theintroductionfeaturesabasslinederivedfromthe
diminishedscale.Thebodyofthetuneutilizesavarietyofmodesbasedonboththe
melodicminorandmajorscales,andthemelodyperformedbythetrumpetand
guitarisharmonizedsomewhatdissonantlybythealtosaxophone.
- GeorgeTurner
InTownSamba(1992)
InTownSambaisacompositionthatwaswrittenaspartofanassignmentforJim
McNeelywhenIwasstudyinginNewYork.Mr.McNeelywantedmetocomposea
fewtunesbeforemynextlessonandIhadtogotoAtlanticCity,NJfortheweekend.
IthinkIwrotefiveorsixnewtuneswhileridingonabustoandfromAtlanticCity.
ThelasttuneIwrotefortheassignment(InTownSamba)wasn'tfinisheduntilI
wasbackinManhattan.That'showthetunegotitsname.Thetuneiswrittenintwo
mainsections.Thefirstsectionmodulatestofairlydistantkeyseverytwobars.The
secondsectionofthecompositionfeaturesrelativelystaticharmonicmovementin
thetonickeyandsubdominant.
Aftermynextlesson,Mr.McNeelysuggestedthatIdevelopthiscompositionintoa
workforjazzorchestra.HealsosuggestedthatImakeadeparturefrompurelytonal
conventionalwritingandincorporatesomebi-tonaltechniquesintheassignmentas
well.ThearrangementIwrotefeaturesthistuneaswellasauxiliarysections,
introduction,interludesandclosingmaterial,thatpittwokeysagainstoneanother
inabi-tonaltexture.IchosethekeysofFmajorandAmajorbecauseofthe
interestingclashthesekeyswouldhavewhilehappeningatthesametime.Ikept
someoftheseauxiliarysectionsinthequintetarrangementonthisCD.The
compositionisavailableforjazzorchestrawithfullscoreandalltheparts.
-JohnCooper