Quintet for Brass

18 min

My Quintet for Brass was commissioned by the Brooklyn Philharmonic Brass Quintet and by Genesis Agudas Achim Congregation in honor of the 60th anniversary of the congregation and was first performed in 1995.

2 trumpets, French horn, trombone, tuba

The main theme of the first movement of the quintet is lively and syncopated, with a blues-like mixing of major and minor modes; there is also a more singing, lyrical theme, and an eventual combination of those contrasting characters and musical ideas.

The second movement begins with a simple, prayer-like melody in the trumpet; the music grows more pleading and agitated before reaching a slightly uneasy peace at the end.

The third movement is based on “El Nora Alila”, a Sephardic tune used in the closing service of the holiday of Yom Kippur–a jubilant tune used as part of this most solemn of holidays. In this piece, the melody is made into even more of a lively dance by the way it is presented rhythmically; it is developed in this dance-like fashion throughout the movement, also combining with the opening theme of the first movement.

—Gerald Cohen