Premiere

University of Colorado Boulder Graduate Brass Quintet – January 27, 2016

Program Note

              At the time I was composing Suite for Brass Quintet , I was listening to a lot of medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque music, and I had those harmonies, characters, and forms stuck in my head. I decided to let those genres be the major influence for this piece, so I took three traditional styles – fanfare, lament, and jig – and made each a movement. The celebratory “Fanfare” incorporates open fifths, “Lament” a mournful tune, and “Jig” the traditional lively dance rhythm. But like many composers who have adopted these forms over the centuries, I have filtered them through my compositional lens to give them melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic flair not found in the original forms.

Movements

I. Fanfare

II. Lament

III. Jig