• Premiere: March 16, 2021 / Kölner Philharmonie / Gürzenich Orchester / Fabien Gabel conducting

• Instrumentation: 4 Horns, 3 Trumpets, 2 Trombones, Bass Trombone, Tuba, Drum Set, Tambourine

• Duration: 5'

 

Program Note

 

Commissioned by the Gürzenich Orchestra of Cologne, with support from the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation. This work was part of a series called "Fanfares for a New Beginning" which sought to produce new music for brass and percussion that was suitable for socially distant performance. 

 

For me, Brass and Percussion is indelibly linked with celebratory parades, from my father's stories of his hometown's religious devotionals led by a community band, to countless football games, Independence Day and Thanksgiving Day festivities, and Mardi Gras in my wife's hometown of New Orleans. One of my favorite characteristics of the latter is the adoption of a hymn or folk tune on which the brass band improvises. The whole parade then stops, and with the percussion still chugging, everyone sings the tune together. The band then rolls on down the street, giving the tune another turn before transitioning seamlessly to the next one. This image was the inspiration for this work - forging ahead together with joy and hope.   

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