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Quintet for Brass
(1995)

Commissioned by:
The Constitution Brass Quintet (Johnson, VT)
The Millikin University Brass Quintet (Decatur, IL)
The Iowa Brass Quintet (Iowa City, IA)

Instrumentation:
    Ctpt1, Ctpt2, hn, tbn, tuba

Duration:
    four movements, ca. 12:30

streaming audio
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as recorded by the Iowa Brass Quintet on
Americana: A University of Iowa Celebration

THE IOWA BRASS QUINTET
L to R: David Geir, trombone; David Greenhoe, trumpet;
Robert Yeats, tuba; Barbara Deur, trumpet; Kristin Thelander, horn

Note from the composer:

"I urge you to purchase the IBQ's CD, Americana!  It includes sensitive, intelligent, dynamic readings of works by P. G. Clapp, Philip Bezanson, Marti Epstein, John D. White, Gwyneth Walker, and Charles Ives (arr. Paul Anderson).  The IBQ is a gifted group of musicians committed to making a glorious sound together." 

- James Grant

   go to information on purchasing Americana!
 

Comments and Reviews

...  an exciting work of four movements that is charged with energy and momentum from the beginning... the freshest brass quintet sound this reviewer has ever heard...  it has the daring of Eric Ewazen's Colchester Fantasy, the melodic gifts of John Cheetham's Brass Menagerie, and the intricacies of Jan Bach's Laudes all in one convenient package... Grant never resorts to gimmicks to achieve an effect... challenging but straightforward in standard notation... the score and parts are easy to read and Grant has thoughtfully configured the pages in each part to avoid awkward page turns... challenging, exciting...  accessible to different kinds of audiences and gives enough back to the performer to make the effort worthwhile...

Dr. Mark Nelson, New Music Editor
Winter 1996 T.U.B.A. Journal, Vol. 23 No. 2 

Program Notes

The first movement, Greetings, assaults the listener with a blustery, urgent narrative featuring wild leaps in all of the instruments as they explore the complete dynamic and pitch range of the brass quintet.

The second movement, Holding Forth, is an arrangement for brass quintet of the genial second movements from “Three Furies for Tuba and Orchestra” (1995), a tuba concerto which in itself is an orchestral expansion of “Three Furies for Solo Tuba” (1993).  The tuba “holds forth” in no uncertain terms.

The third movement, Changes, captures the spirit of the brass chorale expressed in the language of jazz.

The final movement, Nuts, is marked “pretty damn crazy” and is just that.

Quintet for Brass is the result of a consortium commission from three brass quintets:  the Constitution Brass Quintet from Johnson, VT; the Millikin University Brass Quintet from Decatur, IL; and the University of Iowa Brass Quintet from Iowa City, IA.  The music is dedicated with thanks to all fifteen musicians.

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