Dear All, A while back the list was looking for some new literature and Cimarron Music Press is proud to announce the release of Barbara York's new brass quintet titled "Aspects". This work is set in 4 movements:
1. Hum of the Body 2. Cry of the Heart 3. Rondo of the Mind 4. Hymn to the Spirit Barbara writes of the new quintet: > I am sitting here still wondering about how best to describe my Brass > Quintet, “Aspects”, for an audience. First of all, it was just a treat and a > privilege for me to be commissioned by the Columbia Brass Foundry Quintet in > the first place, but aside from that it was also somewhat of a journey in > deciding what to write about and how to go about it. > > When I write on commission, I often ask people to share with me some rather > personal and specific information about themselves. This is a normal part of > my own compositional process, and I have come to rely on it for creative > inspiration over the past several years. These particular gentlemen are all > very accomplished players, but they also have lives outside of music and I > did want to include that in what I wrote. In fact, I would have felt remiss > had I not included at least some of the diversity of accomplishments and > experience that presented themselves to me through these fine and fascinating > musicians and human beings. > > The more I tried to be individual, personal and specific for this group, the > less able I became to do so, and eventually, after much contemplation, I > finally arrived “full circle” within myself at the place where the specific > becomes the most general and the general also becomes the most specific – > human nature as a whole. How else could one describe such an Ensemble and > such a collection of mature, diverse and experienced human beings? > > “Aspects” then became a 4 movement piece that deals with the multiple aspects > of human nature, awareness, understanding and expression. The movements are > therefore involved with Body, Heart, Mind and Spirit. > > I hope that there is affection on my part for all of these human aspects, > although I admit that there is a touch of irony present in the 3rd movement, > “Rondo of the Mind”. I still do tend to believe that no matter how clever and > even intelligent we are, we are still often less than able to cope with > life’s most difficult challenges through our mental capacities alone and > sometimes suffer from a kind of “mental arrogance” that does not serve us > well over the long-term in those circumstances. The 4th, more Spiritual > movement is a kind of reprieve, or perhaps redemption from that type of > hubris that we all sometimes succumb to. > > The members of the Ensemble have remarked on my occasional references to the > Italian composers of the past in this piece, and I would certainly agree that > this has been there in my music. I do, from time to time in my own music, > reference composers from the past from various “schools” and from various > cultures and nationalities, and this piece is no exception. I make no apology > for this, as I do believe that we, even as contemporary composers, are always > influenced by those who have gone before, and to reject this or even deny it > is simply not to recognize and accept the heritage we have had and to be > grateful for the generosity of the many others who have gone before us in > furthering the progress and language of Music itself. We are never alone in > that respect, and music-making is a communal and even a historical activity, > one in which we all share and owe much to all those who participate in it > with us. > > I send my thanks and best wishes to the Columbia Brass Foundry Quintet with > this piece, and to you, my friends and our audience, who now share this with > us. > > Barbara York, May, 2010 > A .pdf sample as well as purchase information can be found here: http://www.cimarronmusic.com/ As a quintet player myself, I found this piece fun, challenging and very emotional (as many of Barbara's work are). If you are unfamiliar with here works, sound samples of many of Barbara's other works can be heard here: http://www.cimarronmusic.com/music-York.cfm Wishing all a great holiday season, Bryan Doughty BVD Press, Music Express, Cimarron Music Press and BrassWorks4 Oystein Baadsvik tour coordinator - http://www.baadsvik.com/ 2010 Yankee Brass Band tour coordinator - http://www.yankeebrassband.org/ 79 Meetinghouse Lane Ledyard, CT 06339 [email protected] 860 536-2185 http://www.bvdpress.com/ http://www.cimarronmusic.com/ _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
