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Americana – Brass Quintet
Two of America’s favorite patriotic songs, America (My Country ’Tis of Thee) and America the Beautiful, are the foundation for this arrangement. With a brief, open fifth fanfare as an introduction, the songs are presented in a straightforward manner, with moving eighth note lines adding color and texture.
Both songs are safely in Eb, easy to play with minimal rehearsal, and suitable for any patriotic celebration.
Composer: Anne McGinty
Instrumentation: 2 Bb Trumpets, F Horn, Trombone & Tuba
Duration/# of Pages: ca. 2:20 / 10 pages, 8.5″ x 11″
Key: Eb -
Antiphon – Brass Quintet
Anton Bruckner (1824 – 1896) was an Austrian composer known for his monumental symphonies, masses and motets. He was a simple man with an intense devotion to the spiritual life.
This motet was written in 1878 and scored for solo tenor, choir and organ. The complete title is Antiphon – Tota pulchra es Maria. It’s not known when he re-scored it for SATB. Both versions feature a dialog between a soloist and the full quintet. His use of sudden contrasts of timbre and dynamics as well as some unexpected harmonic choices make this piece a welcome addition to the repertoire.
Composer: Anne McGinty
Instrumentation: 2 Bb Trumpets, F Horn, Trombone & Tuba
Duration/# of Pages: ca. 4:50 / 11 pages, 8.5″ x 11″
Key: N/A -
Ave Verum Corpus (Byrd) – Brass Quartet
Ave verum corpus (Hail, true body) is based on a 14th century poem. This musical setting by William Byrd (1543 – 1623) is considered one of his finest works. A student of Thomas Tallis, William Byrd was the leading English composer of his time, a great master of the Renaissance along with Giovanni Palestrina and Orlando de Lassus, and left a huge legacy of printed music.
The false relation, the E natural in the trumpet and the E flat in the tuba in measure 2 was Byrd's way of emphasizing the word verum.
Excerpt graciously provided by members of the Tower Brass Quintet.
Composer: Anne McGinty
Instrumentation: Trumpet, Horn, Trombone & Tuba
Duration/# of Pages: ca. 3:30 / 7 pages, 8.5″ x 11″
Key: N/A -
Changes – Brass Sextet
M.F.K. Fisher, in her book The Gastronomical Me, wrote poignant stories of her life and career based on memorable meals and her experiences with food. When asked by Julia Child why she chose food and hunger for these stories, Mrs. Fisher replied, “When I write about hunger, I am really writing about love and the hunger for it, and warmth, and the richness and fine reality of a hunger satisfied.”
Changes tries to capture that warmth and richness and reality musically. The titles of the three movements are chapter titles from this book, with the music reflecting the many changes that are an inevitable part of living.
The first two movements are both slow and reflective. In the first movement each instrument has something to say and shares it with the others, with the resulting interchanges both bitter and sweet. The second movement, dreamlike as suggested by the title, recalls big dreams as well as little dreams—success, frustration and finally satisfaction. The final movement is playful and at times humorous, with a flurry of notes and amusing syncopations, a drastic change from the first two movements. The ending, with tongue in cheek and consideration of the meter used, is indeed a feminine ending in the classical sense as it does end on the second beat.
The sample score shows the first page of each of the three movements. At this time there is no recording available.
Composer: Anne McGinty
Instrumentation: Trumpet, 2 Horns, 2 Trombones & Tuba
Duration/# of Pages: ca. 9:30 / 44 pages, 8.5″ x 11″
Key: N/A
