Brass Quintet #1 (2015)
approx. duration = 18 minutes
MIDI recording.
Sometimes you sit down to compose a piece for percussion instruments, and all of a sudden you have composed a Brass Quintet. Inspired by the medieval surroundings of Italy, my first brass quintet has a Neo-Renaissance quality to it. The first two movements were composed in Siena, while the final movement was written in Assisi.
The final movement is a musical game I created, whereby the rhythms and chords are determined by a matrix. Each letter of the alphabet is assigned to a rhythm and chord combination. I took the opening of the prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, “Let me be an instrument of Your peace” and plugged it into the matrix. It also is what generated the opening melody, as well as the instrumental combinations.