4th Avenue Suite

4th Avenue Suite is a composition set for three euphoniums and three tubas. Its inspiration comes from a vacation at North Carolina’s Outer Banks when we were staying in a rental house on 4th Avenue. The tunes are derived from a sequence of numbers used to open the digital door lock of the house for that week. The numbers, 3 6 8 2 4 3, are employed by their numerical placement in a musical scale. I thought: “What if; these numbers could be made into a tune (or several)?” The entire suite is not confined to these notes, but the tunes in the movements have grown out of this sequence. To construct several generations from a set of notes seemed enough, so no attempt has been made to relate the movements to events or situations. The movements are subtitled as follows: I. Intrada; II. Intermezzo; III. Minuet; and IV. Finale. The challenge level is Medium to Medium Difficult. All players are utilized in important roles and the composition offers various combinations of featured players, sections with just euphoniums or just tubas, and total ensemble.