Brass listening from class 2/17

 Style of Brass Quintet Pieces 

Alyabiev

As we discussed, this is the first brass quintet we have access to, and being written during the romantic period, the traits of that style of writing come through very clearly. The beginning opens with a slow adagio, very diatonic harmonies, and slow melodic gestures that eventually lead us to a triumphant, very brass tempo change, with more virtuosic ideas. The full potential of valved instruments are used here, with many runs in the soprano voices. We eventually leave our home key of Eb major, and go on an exploratory tonal shift into a development section. This lands us in B flat major, which quickly cadences back into our home key of Eb major. Eventually we fade out in the same Eb minor that the piece started with. Overall the style of this piece is very romantic, akin to the period it was written in, and despite this age, it still reads and sounds like a more modern classical piece for brass quintet. 

Poulenc 

This piece is a staple in the chamber brass repertoire. The beginning is cheerful and bright, sort of care free and playful. Starting very obviously in G major before a quick cadence in the dominant region on D. The balance of 3 brass instruments is a lot more bare than a full brass quintet, but based on the style of writing and orchestration, the texture never feels empty. This has to do with the amount of inner voice writing, with the instruments constantly playing double duty on melody and harmony. This adds an extra challenge to the piece, as there are very little rests for any of the instruments. The three movements of the piece are organized and moderate-slow-fast, which is fairly standard for three movements. 

Strauss

This piece is designed as a fanfare, being scored for many brass instruments, a full choir. Often this piece will be performed in a choir loft, so that the sound rings as much as possible. Being Strauss, a lot of big chord voicings are used, covering the whole range span of a full brass section. Melodic sections are given mainly to the higher trumpets, with some conversation happening occasionally with the horns and trombones. 

Ewald 

This is a staple piece of brass quintet literature, with any student whose played in any brass quintet in college likely having looked at it at some point. In typical Ewald fashion, the piece is very programatic. Broken into 4 movements, a lot of key centers and tempos are covered throughout. The opening is melodic and quickly triumphant. Originally written with a more military brass band in mind, the trombone would've been replaced with a tenor horn, and the modern trumpets with cornets. This makes balancing the dynamics a lot more straightforward. As well as balance, some of the lines become a lot easier on the cornet as a result of its cylindrical build making technical passages much easier.