TOP FIVE
Composed in 2008
Duration: 18:00
Instrumentation: 2 trumpets, horn, trombone, tuba
I. The Accidental Octatonist
II. The Mysterious W.T.
III. The Common Sneak Thief
IV. Gothic Nocturn
V. Premeditated Octophony
While I was a sophomore at Rice University, my teacher Arthur Gottschalk gave me a seemingly impossible assignment. He said, “I want you to write the world’s greatest brass quintet.” Immediately I shot back, “How about top five?”
I began by writing the chorale that opens Top Five. After looking at the opening bars, I noticed that I had inadvertently used notes belonging to an octatonic scale, a non-diatonic scale favored by Stravinsky. Hence, “The Accidental Octatonist.” I decided that the rest of the movement would utilize this scale and that I would tie the other fast movements together by using other octatonic scales (suggesting “Premeditated Octophony”).
The second movement utilizes the whole tone scale (the “W.T.” of the title), a scale often used by Debussy. Like the octatonic scale, the whole tone scale is symmetrical. But here the balance is upset by the addition of another pitch, creating a tonal pull towards the new note. This movement also introduces a motive (first heard in the tuba) that recurs throughout the third and fourth movements. The third movement steals bits from over a dozen classic masterworks and fuses them in cheeky tribute, while the fourth movement, “Gothic Nocturn,” suggests an ancient nighttime processional.
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First Performance: October 2nd, 2008, New Music New Haven
Morse Recital Hall, Yale University, New Haven, CT
Douglas Lindsey and Michael Brest, trumpets; Donna Yoo, horn, Achilles Liarmakopoulos, trombone; Stephanie Fairbarn Ycaza, tuba
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