Listening To Brass

For each section of the orchestra, I will listen to at least two movements of all three pieces of suggested listening. I will also endeavor to find videos of live performances of everything I listen to, so that I can put a 'face' to each sound that I am hearing.


Copland - Fanfare for the Common Man

This is quite a well known piece, being used in several films. I think the texture Copland manages to create with just brass and percussion is very effective. For me, the piece is at times yearning and at others hopeful. It is possible to clearly hear the different brass instruments introduced at different times, from the clear opening of the trumpets, to the 'muffled' horns, to the deep trombones and tubas.

The percussion does a great job in this piece at supporting the brass melodies and harmonies. The percussion parts are sparse but well placed, the roles being taken by the timpani, bass drum and gong.


Janacek - Sinfonietta

This piece's opening movement takes the form of a fanfare of brass and percussion, which introduced me to the opening 6 note motif, which is reused in the other movements. Brass instruments feature strongly throughout this work, sometimes using mutes to alter the sound. The sound of the trombones for example is changed dramatically with the use of mutes, giving a nasal quality.
The piece frequently changes between stormy and more lyrical passages, with the brass section often providing the melody, but also accompanying the other parts of the orchestra.

The piece ends with a triumphant and powerful brass flourish, which really shows the dynamism of the orchestra, and the brass in particular.


Malcolm Arnold - Quintet for Brass Op.73

This piece is a brass quintet, scored for two trumpets, horn, trombone and tuba. The trumpets seemed to carry the majority of the melody, creating a really piercing sound that stood out from the accompaniment. The trumpets did occasionally make use of mutes.

There was a lot of contrast in tempo between the movements, but this piece was the one I liked the least out of the three I listened to. It was not able to hold my interest as much as the others, however it was a good opportunity to see the brass instruments performing on their own, and to see their individual qualities.