Music for brass quintet with orchestral accompaniment: Commissioned works, the Annapolis Brass Quintet, and a survey of literature for brass quintet and orchestra

Abstract

OF PROJECT “MUSIC FOR BRASS QUINTET WITH ORCHESTRAL ACCOMPANIMENT: COMMISSIONED WORKS, THE ANNAPOLIS BRASS QUINTET, AND A SURVEY OF LITERATURE FOR BRASS QUINTET AND ORCHESTRA” Today’s leading brass chamber ensemble is the brass quintet, whose inception was relatively late compared to the string quartet or woodwind quintet. The first modern brass quintet formed in the 1950s, while the first string quartet can be traced to the 17th century. Compositions for woodwind quintet were written as early as 1811 during the Classical Period. The New York Brass Quintet, American Brass Quintet and Annapolis Brass Quintet commissioned a large portion of the currently existing brass quintet literature. The literature grew exponentially as the brass quintet became popular in the 1960s. Also during this time, a new genre of works emerged for brass quintet with orchestral accompaniment. The paper references fifty-seven works for the brass quintet with orchestral accompaniment that were found through music catalogues, reviews, recordings and searching JSTOR, World Cat and Google. Since the author was not able to discover any scholarly treatment of this genre, this paper will address the gap and unearth the quantity of literature available. Many of these works are unrecorded. While there are many existing scores in the literature, there is a resurgence of compositions currently being written for brass quintet with orchestral accompaniment. This document is presented in two parts: Part I, “Overview of Brass Chamber Music in the Twentieth Century,” “Earliest Music in the United States for Brass Chamber Ensembles,” “A Brief History of the Modern Brass Quintet,” “Annapolis Brass Quintet,” and “A Survey of Existing Works for Brass Quintet and Orchestra.” The second part of this dissertation contains materials which are pertinent to the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree which include recital programs, program notes and vita.