Analysis: The Brass Ensemble

The Brass Ensemble was held in the Rehearsal Hall at our school of music around 8:00 PM. The venue was a small room with an audience of only around twenty people. The ensemble was a brass quintet made up of two trumpets, one horn, one trombone, and one tuba. The performers sat in a half circle while the director, Steven Mahpar, stood at the corner of the room. Only two pieces were played, yet I was able to truly appreciate the skills showcased by the various performers.
Kerry Turner, “Kaitsenko” (1991), was the first piece of the night. The piece is based off of a Kiowa Indians warrior society named “Kaitsenko”, where the warriors gained honor by dying in battle. There are no movements, and the duration is approximately thirteen minutes.
However, the performers were switched. The second piece was Jan Bach, “Laudes” (1971). The title does not translate exactly, but serves as a tribute to brass tower music from the Italian Renaissance. The title is reminiscent of The Roman Catholic Church’s sunrise service and the Italian hymns of praise, otherwise known as “laude”. The first movement, “Reveille”, reflects the sunrise due to its long period of adagio tempo and piano dynamics followed by outbursts of disjunct melodies. The end of the movement repeats the same melody a few times with all of the instruments. The next movement, “Scherzo”, uses all five instruments that appear and disappear in a single, quick melody. The movement has a three-part form and the instruments play valveless tones “con sordino” (an Italian direction meaning “with mute”), while the middle section contains segments in a chromatic scale. The movement sounds dissonant and eerie due to the crescendos of the allegro melody. The third movement titled “Cantilena”, contains solo sections for each instrument, alternating with sections that include the whole quintet. The tonality of each section is a polychord in either d or c minor. The title of the last movement of the piece, “Volta”, is a dance of Provencal origin. The movement consists of contrasting textures and dynamics. The instrumentals are broken down, and the movement ends with a coda based on a slow section of