Brass Quintet Repertoire

MoophoniumMan · Post by **MoophoniumMan** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 11:30 am

First of all, my apologies if there is another topic like this.

Does anyone have any suggestions for music for brass quintet? Obviously there's a lot of classical, baroque, etc. literature out there, and personally I could listen to the Canadian Brass play Contrapunctus all day, but that would bore most everyday audiences. I'm looking for something a little more entertaining, maybe a little flashy, for the laypeople.

Any suggestions?

ZJH · Post by **ZJH** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 1:21 pm

My band formed a brass quintet, and they played a very cool arrangement of "Procession of the Nobles."

Ryan H. Turner · Post by **Ryan H. Turner** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 4:02 pm

Aztec Fire...look into that. They had the original back in 1982...then some band in Anaheim took it and hacked it up, took out the trumpet "glissando" at the end

and now, it's been released again for the 21st century for the modern marching band, complete with OPTIONAL woodwind parts...more pit stuff, including cannons and music that can only be heard if you have amplifiers...a completely new 4th trumpet part that never goes above a low C, and you have to play it on a double bass trumpet, which is probably just a tuba anyway playing the melody...an optional dog pound section complete with barking and wailing dogs...an extended baritone solo section sort of like a cadenza but it turns into a cradenza with a matching headboard...and...a brass quintet part.

Just in case you have a small band.

phatbob2007 · Post by **phatbob2007** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 6:45 pm

well our solo group in school this yeah was a brass ensemble and we played allegro by antonio vivaldi and jesu, joy of a mans desiring by bach

ZJH · Post by **ZJH** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 8:18 pm

phatbob2007 wrote:well our solo group in school this yeah was a brass ensemble and we played allegro by antonio vivaldi and jesu, joy of a mans desiring by bach

I'm guessing that would be "Spring: I. Allegro" by Vivaldi from his "Four Seasons Concertos." Excellent. I'm imagining it now, and it sounds cool with a brass quintet, haha.

MoophoniumMan · Post by **MoophoniumMan** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 9:18 pm

Ryan H. Turner wrote:Aztec Fire...look into that. They had the original back in 1982...then some band in Anaheim took it and hacked it up, took out the trumpet "glissando" at the end and now, it's been released again for the 21st century for the modern marching band, complete with OPTIONAL woodwind parts...more pit stuff, including cannons and music that can only be heard if you have amplifiers...a completely new 4th trumpet part that never goes above a low C, and you have to play it on a double bass trumpet, which is probably just a tuba anyway playing the melody...an optional dog pound section complete with barking and wailing dogs...an extended baritone solo section sort of like a cadenza but it turns into a cradenza with a matching headboard...and...a brass quintet part.

Just in case you have a small band.

Hahaha!

Yeah I'll have to look into that. I'm really interested in using a cannon, how did you know? And I play baritone so the whole cadenza/credenza thing would work great!

ZJH wrote:I'm guessing that would be "Spring: I. Allegro" by Vivaldi from his "Four Seasons Concertos." Excellent. I'm imagining it now, and it sounds cool with a brass quintet, haha.

Canadian Brass does the suite... it's pretty awesome.

LoyalTubist · Post by **LoyalTubist** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 4:07 pm

One of the reasons why the brass quintet repertoire is limited compared to other chamber groups is that it is a relatively new organization. The first regular brass quintet was formed in the 1950s--the New York Brass Quintet.

http://www.windsongpress.com/CD/phillip ... wpiece.mp3

This is a recording of Harvey Phillips playing a solo with that group.

Ironically, there are actually more pieces written for tuba ensemble (tuba/euphonium ensemble) than there are for brass quintet.

mariahorn · Post by **mariahorn** » Sat Aug 05, 2006 3:55 pm

This year marked my 9th year (I feel like I'm getting old now) participating in the Brass Chamber Music Workshop at Humboldt State University (CA). This has provided me the opportunity to hear and play a TON of music, from arrangements, original compositions and everything in between.

If you want reliable, accessible music, to order from one location, try anything composed by Ray Burkhart. His music is absolutely beautiful, and most can be played by a good high school group (or even lower) but sounds just incredible. To start out, get "Itialian Postcards" and "Love Letters." If you want to feature your tuba player, get "Sofie's Waltz." And if you have some hotshot trumpet players, get "Watercolor Menagerie." He put out a CD a few years ago called "Watercolor Menagerie" that has a lot of his music on it. The other great thing about a lot of his music is that he has arranged his pieces to be played by quintet, sextet, or septet (but each is it's own publication/arrangement, so the parts are different for each version you play).

Get his music at http://www.tromba.us/

There's a lot of other good stuff out there too. Really depends on what level you are and what audience you're shooting for. Let me know if you have more questions. I've saved all my programs and also work in the library during the workshop, so I get to know a lot of the music. But you can't go wrong with Burkhart!

Trumpet Man 05 · Post by **Trumpet Man 05** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 12:41 am

Eric Ewazen's "Frostfire" and "Western Fanfare" are excellent and challenging works.

Ex Nihilo · Post by **Ex Nihilo** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 6:13 pm

Ryan H. Turner wrote:Aztec Fire...look into that. They had the original back in 1982...then some band in Anaheim took it and hacked it up, took out the trumpet "glissando" at the end and now, it's been released again for the 21st century for the modern marching band, complete with OPTIONAL woodwind parts...more pit stuff, including cannons and music that can only be heard if you have amplifiers...a completely new 4th trumpet part that never goes above a low C, and you have to play it on a double bass trumpet, which is probably just a tuba anyway playing the melody...an optional dog pound section complete with barking and wailing dogs...an extended baritone solo section sort of like a cadenza but it turns into a cradenza with a matching headboard...and...a brass quintet part.

Just in case you have a small band.

i've played the original... gewd shtuff