Fanfare for Brass Ensemble (2015)

Version 1 (original): 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 2 trombones, bass trombone, tuba
Version 2 (commissioned by Bay View Music Festival): 2 horns, 4 trumpets, 2 trombones, bass trombone, tuba

Fanfare for Brass Ensemble is short work written to feature the exciting color of a full orchestral brass section.This piece opens with a fanfare, and then proceeds to the main section of the work, which juxtaposes a harmonic motive in the accompaniment with a primary theme. The main section ends with a fragmentation of motivic material, which builds to thick climax. It closes with a reprise of the opening fanfare, though it stated with a final push towards the end.

Sometimes harmonically angular and thorny, this piece was composed shortly after I had performed both Fanfare pour précéder La péri by Paul Dukas and Symphony No. 1 by Dmitri Shostakovich. Upon reviewing this work even further, I also see influences from the first movement of of Oliver Messiaen's L'Ascension for Orchestra. Though there are no direct quotes or intentional references, the Fanfare feels very much an extension of my experiences with these works.