Brass Quintet Repertoire
Encyclopedia
The bulk of any brass quintet's
repertoire consists of arrangements of pre-existing music. Victor Ewald
's four brass quintets are the first serious attempts at establishing a repertoire for the ensemble. The Chicago and New York Brass Quintets made sustained efforts to commission new works, and much of the original repertoire for brass quintet from the mid-20th century derives from their groundbreaking work. The mantle of creating a repertoire for brass quintet was taken up by the American Brass Quintet. Though the Canadian Brass
popularized the quintet as an ensemble, it rarely performs original repertoire.
The American Brass Quintet
uses bass trombone instead of tuba, and their extensive commissioning has increased the popularity of this instrumentation. It is not uncommon for composers to write interchangeable parts for tuba and bass trombone to enable both types of quintets to perform their work.
Brass quintet
A brass quintet is a five-piece musical ensemble composed of brass instruments. The most common instrumentation is two trumpets or cornets, one horn, one trombone or euphonium/baritone horn, and one tuba or bass trombone....
repertoire consists of arrangements of pre-existing music. Victor Ewald
Victor Ewald
-Biography:Victor Ewald , was a Russian composer of music, mainly for conical brass instruments.He was born in Saint Petersburg and died in Leningrad. Ewald was a professor of Civil Engineering in St. Petersburg, and was also the cellist with the Beliaeff Quartet for sixteen years. This was the...
's four brass quintets are the first serious attempts at establishing a repertoire for the ensemble. The Chicago and New York Brass Quintets made sustained efforts to commission new works, and much of the original repertoire for brass quintet from the mid-20th century derives from their groundbreaking work. The mantle of creating a repertoire for brass quintet was taken up by the American Brass Quintet. Though the Canadian Brass
Canadian Brass
The Canadian Brass is a brass quintet founded by Dr. Charles Daellenbach and Gene Watts in 1970. In addition to maintaining a heavy international touring schedule, the Canadian Brass have recorded over 80 CDs and DVDs...
popularized the quintet as an ensemble, it rarely performs original repertoire.
The American Brass Quintet
American Brass Quintet
When the American Brass Quintet gave its first public performance on December 11, 1960, brass chamber music was still relatively unknown to concert audiences...
uses bass trombone instead of tuba, and their extensive commissioning has increased the popularity of this instrumentation. It is not uncommon for composers to write interchangeable parts for tuba and bass trombone to enable both types of quintets to perform their work.
Brass Quintet Repertoire
Among the fairly large repertoire for brass quintet are the following works:- Bruce AdolpheBruce AdolpheBruce Adolphe is a U.S. composer and music scholar, the author of several books on music, and pianist. His current positions include Resident Lecturer and Director of Family Concerts of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and founder and creative director of The Learning Maestros,...
, Triskelion - Albert Ahlstrom, Treelight
- Gilbert AmyGilbert AmyGilbert Amy is a French composer and conductor. In 1954 he entered the Conservatoire de Paris where he was taught and influenced by Olivier Messiaen and Darius Milhaud and studied piano with Yvonne Loriod and fugue with Simone Plé-Caussade. His first compositions date from 1955...
, Relais - Malcolm ArnoldMalcolm ArnoldSir Malcolm Henry Arnold, CBE was an English composer and symphonist.Malcolm Arnold began his career playing trumpet professionally, but by age thirty his life was devoted to composition. He was ranked with Benjamin Britten as one of the most sought-after composers in Britain...
, Quintet For Brass, Op. 73 - Daniel AsiaDaniel AsiaDaniel Asia is an American composer.Daniel Asia was born in Seattle, Washington, in the United States of America. He received a B.A. degree from Hampshire College and a M.M. from the Yale University School of Music...
, Brass Quintet - Milton BabbittMilton BabbittMilton Byron Babbitt was an American composer, music theorist, and teacher. He is particularly noted for his serial and electronic music.-Biography:...
, Counterparts - Jan BachJan BachJan Bach is an American composer. He taught at the University of Tampa from 1965 to 1966 and at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois from 1966 to 2002. His primary performing instrument is the horn, and he is especially renowned for his horn pieces and especially well-known among...
, Triptych - Jason Bahr, Divergence
- Leonardo BaladaLeonardo BaladaLeonardo Balada , is a Catalan American composer, now teaching and composing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.-Life:...
, Mosaics - Stephen Barber, Multiples Points on View of a Fanfare
- Stephen Barber, Gone Is the River
- Edward BarnesEdward Barnes (composer)Edward Barnes is an American composer and producer.Edward Barnes studied music composition at the Juilliard School with composers Vincent Persichetti and David Diamond, and at Dartington Hall in Great Britain with composer-conductor Sir Peter Maxwell Davies...
, Variations for Brass Quintet - Robert BeaserRobert BeaserRobert Beaser is an American composer.-Biography:Beaser was brought up in a non-musical family. His father was a physician and mother was a chemist. He grew up in Newton, Massachusetts where he distinguished himself at a young age as a percussionist, composer and conductor...
, Brass Quintet - Irwin BazelonIrwin BazelonIrwin Bazelon was an American composer of contemporary classical music.Contemporary American composer Irwin Bazelon’s music is known for its interesting rhythms and its emphasis on the brass and percussion sections. In total, Bazelon composed nine symphonies and over sixty orchestral, chamber, and...
, Brass Quintet - Robert J. Bradshaw, Vignettes No. 1 Right Then. Same Time Tomorrow?
- Henry BrantHenry BrantHenry Dreyfuss Brant was a Canadian-born American composer. An expert orchestrator with a flair for experimentation, many of Brant's works featured spatialization techniques.- Biography :...
, The Fourth Millennium - Robert Bennett, Arabesque
- Leonard BernsteinLeonard BernsteinLeonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
, Dance Suite for Brass QuintetDance Suite (Bernstein)Leonard Bernstein's Dance Suite for Brass Quintet was written in 1989. It consists of five short movements, each of which is dedicated to a friend of Bernstein's.-Instrumentation:... - Larry BitenskyLarry BitenskyLarry Bitensky is an American composer who has written for a variety of genres, including piano, chamber ensembles, orchestra, and wind ensemble.- Biography :...
, For Then and Now for brass quintet - William BolcomWilliam BolcomWilliam Elden Bolcom is an American composer and pianist. He has received the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Arts, two Grammy Awards, the Detroit Music Award and was named 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America. Bolcom taught composition at the University of Michigan from 1973–2008...
, Quintet - Darijan BožičDarijan BožicDarijan Božič is a Slovenian composer and conductor.- Biography :Darijan Božič was born to Ivo and Ana Nuša in Slavonski Brod as the younger of two children...
, Kriki (The Cries) - Alvin Brehm, Quintet for Brass
- Timothy Broege, Brass Quintet No. 2
- Elliott CarterElliott CarterElliott Cook Carter, Jr. is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer born and living in New York City. He studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris in the 1930s, and then returned to the United States. After a neoclassical phase, he went on to write atonal, rhythmically complex music...
, A Fantasy about Purcell's "Fantasia upon One Note" - Elliott CarterElliott CarterElliott Cook Carter, Jr. is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer born and living in New York City. He studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris in the 1930s, and then returned to the United States. After a neoclassical phase, he went on to write atonal, rhythmically complex music...
, Brass Quintet - Robert Chastain, Quintet for Brass Instruments
- Jack Cooper, Fives Scenes for Brass Quintet
- Louis Coyner, Eolith No. 4 for Brass Quintet
- Asa Daniel, Brass Quintet
- Georges DelerueGeorges DelerueGeorges Delerue , was a French film composer who composed over 350 scores for cinema and television. He won numerous important awards including Rome Prize , Emmy Award , Genie Award , ACE Award and Academy Award for Best Original Score in 1979 for A...
, Vitrail - Carl Della Peruti, Sounding for Brass Quintet
- Anthony DiLorenzo, Fire Dance
- Robert Dennis, Blackbird Variations
- Kathleen Ditmer, Tonqueues
- Lucia DlugoszewskiLucia DlugoszewskiLucia Dlugoszewski was a Polish-American composer, performer and inventor. She created over a hundred musical instruments, including the timbre piano, a sort of prepared piano in which hammers and keys were replaced with bows and plectra.-Background and early years:The daughter of Polish...
, Angels of the Inmost Heaven - Jacob DruckmanJacob DruckmanJacob Druckman was an American composer born in Philadelphia. A graduate of the Juilliard School, Druckman studied with Vincent Persichetti, Peter Mennin, and Bernard Wagenaar. In 1949 and 1950 he studied with Aaron Copland at Tanglewood and later continued his studies at the École Normale de...
, Other Voices - Jack Curtis DubowskyJack Curtis DubowskyJack Curtis Dubowsky is a San Francisco-based American composer who has scored four independent feature films and composed music for television, advertising, and public performance. His music has been performed by the San Francisco Choral Artists, the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco, the...
, Brass Quintet No. 1 - Jack Curtis DubowskyJack Curtis DubowskyJack Curtis Dubowsky is a San Francisco-based American composer who has scored four independent feature films and composed music for television, advertising, and public performance. His music has been performed by the San Francisco Choral Artists, the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco, the...
, Due North - Donald ErbDonald ErbDonald Erb was an American composer best known for large orchestral works such as Concerto for Brass and Orchestra and Ritual Observances.-Early years:...
, Three Pieces for Brass Quintet - Donald ErbDonald ErbDonald Erb was an American composer best known for large orchestral works such as Concerto for Brass and Orchestra and Ritual Observances.-Early years:...
, The St. Valentine's Day Brass Quintet - Alvin EtlerAlvin EtlerAlvin Derald Etler was an American composer and oboist.-Career:A student of Paul Hindemith, Etler is noted for his highly rhythmic, harmonically and texturally complex compositional style, taking inspiration from the works of Bartók and Copland as well as the dissonant and accented styles of...
, Quintet - Alvin EtlerAlvin EtlerAlvin Derald Etler was an American composer and oboist.-Career:A student of Paul Hindemith, Etler is noted for his highly rhythmic, harmonically and texturally complex compositional style, taking inspiration from the works of Bartók and Copland as well as the dissonant and accented styles of...
, Sonic Sequence - Victor EwaldVictor Ewald-Biography:Victor Ewald , was a Russian composer of music, mainly for conical brass instruments.He was born in Saint Petersburg and died in Leningrad. Ewald was a professor of Civil Engineering in St. Petersburg, and was also the cellist with the Beliaeff Quartet for sixteen years. This was the...
, Quintet no. 1 in B flat minor (Op. 5) - Victor EwaldVictor Ewald-Biography:Victor Ewald , was a Russian composer of music, mainly for conical brass instruments.He was born in Saint Petersburg and died in Leningrad. Ewald was a professor of Civil Engineering in St. Petersburg, and was also the cellist with the Beliaeff Quartet for sixteen years. This was the...
, Quintet no. 2 in E flat major (Op. 6) - Victor EwaldVictor Ewald-Biography:Victor Ewald , was a Russian composer of music, mainly for conical brass instruments.He was born in Saint Petersburg and died in Leningrad. Ewald was a professor of Civil Engineering in St. Petersburg, and was also the cellist with the Beliaeff Quartet for sixteen years. This was the...
, Quintet no. 3 in D flat major (Op. 7) - Victor EwaldVictor Ewald-Biography:Victor Ewald , was a Russian composer of music, mainly for conical brass instruments.He was born in Saint Petersburg and died in Leningrad. Ewald was a professor of Civil Engineering in St. Petersburg, and was also the cellist with the Beliaeff Quartet for sixteen years. This was the...
, Quintet no. 4 in A flat major (Op. 8) - Eric EwazenEric EwazenEric Ewazen is an American composer and teacher. Ewazen studied composition under Samuel Adler, Milton Babbitt, Gunther Schuller, Joseph Schwantner, Warren Benson, and Eugene Kurtz at the Eastman School of Music and The Juilliard School...
, Colchester Fantasy - Eric EwazenEric EwazenEric Ewazen is an American composer and teacher. Ewazen studied composition under Samuel Adler, Milton Babbitt, Gunther Schuller, Joseph Schwantner, Warren Benson, and Eugene Kurtz at the Eastman School of Music and The Juilliard School...
, Frost Fire - Eric EwazenEric EwazenEric Ewazen is an American composer and teacher. Ewazen studied composition under Samuel Adler, Milton Babbitt, Gunther Schuller, Joseph Schwantner, Warren Benson, and Eugene Kurtz at the Eastman School of Music and The Juilliard School...
, Western Fanfare - Brian Felder, Canzone XXXI
- Brian Fennelly, Brass Quintet No. 3 (Velvet and Spice)
- Brian Fennelly, Locking Horns-Brass Quintet No. 2
- Brian Fennelly, Prelude And Elegy For Brass Quintet
- Myron Fink, A Suite of Antiques
- Jason Forsythe, Sanctity
- Lukas FossLukas FossLukas Foss was a German-born American composer, conductor, and pianist.-Music career:He was born Lukas Fuchs in Berlin, Germany in 1922. His father was the philosopher and scholar Martin Fuchs...
, Night Music for John Lennon In Memory of December 8, 1980, for brass quintet and orchestra - Kenneth FuchsKenneth FuchsKenneth Fuchs is an American composer, conductor, and educator. He currently serves as Professor of Music Composition at the University of Connecticut ....
, Fire, Ice, and Summer Bronze - Jack GallagherJack Gallagher (composer)Jack Gallagher is an American composer and college professor. His recording, Jack Gallagher: Orchestral Music, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by JoAnn Falletta, was released internationally on the Naxos Records label in 2010.-Life and career:Gallagher was born in Brooklyn,...
, Toccata for Brass Quintet - Jack GallagherJack Gallagher (composer)Jack Gallagher is an American composer and college professor. His recording, Jack Gallagher: Orchestral Music, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by JoAnn Falletta, was released internationally on the Naxos Records label in 2010.-Life and career:Gallagher was born in Brooklyn,...
, Celebration and Reflection - Elliot GoldenthalElliot GoldenthalElliot Goldenthal is an American composer of contemporary classical music. He was a student of Aaron Copland and John Corigliano, and is best known for his distinctive style and ability to blend various musical styles and techniques in original and inventive ways...
, Brass Quintet No. 2Brass Quintet No. 2"Brass Quintet No. 2" is a composition, circa 1980, by Elliot Goldenthal for brass ensemble, it comes in three parts and is published as sheet music by G. Schirmer, Inc. It was recently recorded by the brass ensemble Extension Ensemble for their 2004 album New York Presence.... - Daniel Grabois, Zen Monkey
- John Halle, Softshoe
- Piers Hellawell, Sound Carvings from the Bell Foundry
- Paul HindemithPaul HindemithPaul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...
, Morgenmusik - Alun HoddinottAlun HoddinottAlun Hoddinott CBE , was a Welsh composer of classical music, one of the first to receive international recognition.-Life and works:...
, Ritornelli 2 - Eric Hudes, Pentateuch
- Edward Jacobs, Passed Time
- Phillip JohnstonPhillip JohnstonPhillip Johnston is an American avant-garde jazz composer and saxophonist.Johnston first gained notice working on the underground music scene of New York City in the 1980s. Among those he collaborated with are John Zorn, Eugene Chadbourne, Elliott Sharp, Wayne Horvitz, Butch Morris, and The DB's...
, Sleeping Beauty - Peter Korn, Prelude and Scherzo
- Kyle Lane, Sonata for Brass Quintet
- Tania LeónTania LeonTania León is a Cuban composer and conductor who has been recognized as an educator and advisor to arts organizations.-León's Music:...
, Saoko - Edwin London, Brass Quintet
- Witold LutoslawskiWitold LutoslawskiWitold Lutosławski was one of the major European composers of the 20th century, and one of the preeminent Polish musicians during his last three decades. During his lifetime, Lutosławski earned many international awards and prizes, including the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest...
, Mini Overture - John Melby, 91 Plus 5 for brass quintet and computer
- Hermeto Pascoal, Timbrando
- Tom Pierson, Brass Quintet
- Anthony PlogAnthony PlogAnthony Plog is a renowned American conductor, composer and trumpet player.The music of Anthony Plog has been performed in over 30 countries around the world...
, Mini-Suite for Brass Quintet - Anthony PlogAnthony PlogAnthony Plog is a renowned American conductor, composer and trumpet player.The music of Anthony Plog has been performed in over 30 countries around the world...
, 4 Sierra Scenes for Soprano and Brass Quintet - Anthony PlogAnthony PlogAnthony Plog is a renowned American conductor, composer and trumpet player.The music of Anthony Plog has been performed in over 30 countries around the world...
, 4 Sketches for Brass Quintet (Quintet #1) - Anthony PlogAnthony PlogAnthony Plog is a renowned American conductor, composer and trumpet player.The music of Anthony Plog has been performed in over 30 countries around the world...
, Mosaics for Brass Quintet (Quintet #2) - Anthony PlogAnthony PlogAnthony Plog is a renowned American conductor, composer and trumpet player.The music of Anthony Plog has been performed in over 30 countries around the world...
, Animal Ditties 7 for Brass Quintet - Howard Quilling, Four Pieces for Five Brass
- Belinda Reynolds, Weave
- Peter Robles, Transcendent Tones, Fractured Forms
- Ned RoremNed RoremNed Rorem is a Pulitzer prize-winning American composer and diarist. He is best known and most praised for his song settings.-Life:...
, Diversions - Steven Sacco, Quintet for Brass
- David SampsonDavid S. SampsonDavid Sampson is a prolific composer and trumpet player currently living in New Jersey. He is currently Composer-in-Residence with the Colonial Symphony Orchestra and plays with them as well....
, Distant Voices - David SampsonDavid S. SampsonDavid Sampson is a prolific composer and trumpet player currently living in New Jersey. He is currently Composer-in-Residence with the Colonial Symphony Orchestra and plays with them as well....
, Entrance - David SampsonDavid S. SampsonDavid Sampson is a prolific composer and trumpet player currently living in New Jersey. He is currently Composer-in-Residence with the Colonial Symphony Orchestra and plays with them as well....
, Strata (originally Quintet 99) - Adam Schoenberg, Reflecting Light
- Gunther SchullerGunther SchullerGunther Schuller is an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, and jazz musician.- Biography and works :...
, Music for Brass Quintet - Gunther SchullerGunther SchullerGunther Schuller is an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, and jazz musician.- Biography and works :...
, Brass Quintet No. 2 - William SchumanWilliam SchumanWilliam Howard Schuman was an American composer and music administrator.-Life:Born in Manhattan in New York City to Samuel and Rachel Schuman, Schuman was named after the twenty-seventh U.S. president, William Howard Taft, although his family preferred to call him Bill...
, American Hymn - Elliott SchwartzElliott SchwartzElliott Schwartz is an American composer. A graduate of Columbia University, He was Beckwith Professor Emeritus of music at Bowdoin College joining the faculty in 1964. In 2006, the Library of Congress acquired his papers to make them part of their permanent collection...
, Three Movements - Ralph ShapeyRalph ShapeyRalph Shapey was an American composer and conductor. He is well-known for his work as a composition professor at the University of Chicago, where he founded and directed the Contemporary Chamber Players...
, Brass Quintet - Ralph ShapeyRalph ShapeyRalph Shapey was an American composer and conductor. He is well-known for his work as a composition professor at the University of Chicago, where he founded and directed the Contemporary Chamber Players...
, Fanfares - Alexander ShchetynskyAlexander ShchetynskyAlexander Shchetynsky is a Ukrainian composer. Born on 22 June 1960 in Kharkiv, in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union. His work list includes compositions in various forms ranging from solo instrumental to orchestral, choral pieces and operas....
, On the Eve - Faye-Ellen Silverman, Kalends
- Faye-Ellen Silverman, Quantum Quintet
- Reynold Simpson, Brass Quintet
- David Snow, Dance Movements
- Robert StarerRobert StarerRobert Starer was an Austrian-born American composer and pianist.Robert Starer began studying the piano at age 4 and continued his studies at the Vienna State Academy...
, Evanescence - Raymond Stewart, OK Chorale
- Robert Stewart, Quintet No. 2
- Robert Stewart, Three Pieces for the American Brass Quintet
- William SusmanWilliam SusmanWilliam Joseph Susman, born August 29, 1960 in Chicago, is an American composer of concert and film music as well as an accomplished pianist. He belongs to the generation of American composers that came of age in the late twentieth century, received traditional academic training while remaining...
, The Heavens Above - Elias Tannenbaum, Patterns and Improvisations for BQ and Tape
- Elias Tannenbaum, Structures
- Michael Tilson ThomasMichael Tilson ThomasMichael Tilson Thomas is an American conductor, pianist and composer. He is currently music director of the San Francisco Symphony, and artistic director of the New World Symphony Orchestra.-Early years:...
, Street Song - Virgil ThomsonVirgil ThomsonVirgil Thomson was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music...
, Family Portrait - George TsontakisGeorge TsontakisGeorge Tsontakis is an American composer and conductor.Tsontakis studied composition with Hugo Weisgall and Roger Sessions at the Juilliard School from 1974 to 1978, and later with Franco Donatoni at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome...
, Brass Quintet - George TsontakisGeorge TsontakisGeorge Tsontakis is an American composer and conductor.Tsontakis studied composition with Hugo Weisgall and Roger Sessions at the Juilliard School from 1974 to 1978, and later with Franco Donatoni at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome...
, Hansel - Vladimir UssachevskyVladimir UssachevskyVladimir Kirilovitch Ussachevsky was a composer, particularly known for his work in electronic music.-Biography:...
, Anniversary Variations - Vladimir UssachevskyVladimir UssachevskyVladimir Kirilovitch Ussachevsky was a composer, particularly known for his work in electronic music.-Biography:...
, Dialogues and Contrasts for Brass Quintet and Tape - George Theophilus WalkerGeorge Walker (composer)George Theophilus Walker is an African-American composer, the first to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. He received the Pulitzer for his work Lilacs in 1996....
, Music for Brass (Sacred and Profane) - Dan WelcherDan WelcherDan Welcher is an American composer, conductor, and music educator.- Biography :Welcher was born in Rochester, New York and earned degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the Manhattan School of Music, studying bassoon, piano, and composition...
, Brass Quintet - Charles WhittenbergCharles WhittenbergCharles Whittenberg was an American composer and holder of two Guggenheim Fellowships....
, Triptych - Natalie Williams, Land of the Ages
- Charles WuorinenCharles WuorinenCharles Peter Wuorinen is a prolific Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer born and living in New York City. His catalog of more than 250 compositions includes works for orchestra, opera, chamber music, as well as solo instrumental and vocal works...
, Brass Quintet - Norman Yamada, Mundane Dissatisfactions
- Carolyn Yarnell, Slade
- Ramon Zupka, Masques for brass quintet and piano