Brass Quartet no. 1 - Now with live recording!

I am a trumpet player myself, and play in a brass quintet. Personally, there are sections of the trumpet parts that look very nasty to play, but as has already been established, if your players have no problem then there is none (good on them though).

In terms of the piece, I thought it was nice and well suited to the medium, but it felt a lot like a prelude. It would be a lot better if it actually led into something. I also hope that that vibrato in the midi was non-intentional, because vibrato to that extent in live performance could completely ruin the piece.

yeah, please do not take the MIDI or even the MP3 as how the final performance should sound . Which sections of trumpet did you have in mind? High/low notes? Morendo from B5, perhaps ?

Anyway, yeah, I think the players should have an all right time with it. It is a bit "preludish", but again, I'll probably add some complements to it this summer, and by itself I suppose it could work as a prelude. The players are asking for a name for the piece, so I'll think of it in those terms, as a prelude or beginning of a larger piece .

*bump* *shrug*

Also, update: I'm going to be editing the ending a bit, make it flow a little bit better, since it's a tad abrupt. I think a slightly longer introduction to the canon, with harmony instead of silence, would work better than just straight going into it. The chords at the end are then more justified, as well. This should be up by the end of the weekend...

I've been thinking of the rest of the piece as well, and about adding an program to it. I didn't really write it with a program in mind, but with more of a general feeling or nature, though I think I have something that matches my original intent, and allows for the rest of the piece to built up nicely. I think it'll be 4 movements. Three movements will allow me to truly explore the ensemble of 2 trumpets, horn, and trombone ....given the time I'll have over the summer, this should be more than feasible .

wow, this is a great piece! flows like a great river, peaceful, majestic. very nice!!!!!

thanks frantz, I'm glad you liked it .

Hey Dave, i'm not quite sure what I think of it! There's some satisfying dissonance, and the ''form'' overall is very much to my liking.. But still, i'm not sure... I'll have to let it sink in a bit, okay?

PS: I had listened to this before, on headphones where only the left side was functional (I always destroy them, without fail!!) so the experience wasn't quite as immersing as I would want it to be - i wanted to wait until i had access to something which could do it more justice. Now, however, I had the privilege of listening to it on.... crappy laptop speakers.

I agree, this is a great little piece... and too short.
Your work is advancing in leaps and bounds. It's really a pleasure to see you evolve and grow as a composer.
There is great musicality in this piece.

Thanks for listening QCcowboy, and I really appreciate the comments . I was particularly relieved to see the comment of musicality, which I find extremely important in music (for obvious reasons, I'd hope ).

Also, Anders, I understand, sometimes first impressions aren't the best....certainly with my pieces it seems to be that the more you listen the more you like it (though the opposite might hold true for me...depends). Oh, and I've broken tons of headphones, too. They all seem to be Apple/iPod headphones...

The recital is tonight, and there'll be a recording session on Saturday, so a live version of this piece will be up soon! Wish me (us) luck!

Ok, so I've finally gotten the mp3 of the recital (no recording session though ) ready for you to listen! I thought they played pretty well, and of course was really thankful of them to do it. A few wrong notes and pacing/dynamics issues ...but whatever. It's a live performance and that's what matters!

Hope you like it, and please listen along with the score !

Edit: aaand here it is

SoundClick artist: VerdiLver's - page with MP3 music downloads

It is sickening that so few have reviewed and commented this piece. I absolutely loved it !

My favourite Brass Quartet on YC so far I like the dissonances you create as well as the harmonies, it is nice to follow and very ambient. I absolutely adore ambient music As Michel stated this piece could so much longer and with that prolong the orgasmicness

Well toodle-pip. Go and kick some sore ass with your composing skills!