Brom Bones

"Musically depicts the character and exploits of Washington Irving’s dashing prankster in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The musical ensemble consists of 4 Bb trumpets (an optional Eb part is included for trumpet 1), one French horn, 3 tenor trombones, one bass trombone and tuba. This entertaining composition is in 5 movements, the first 2 are interconnected: Overture, The Smoke Out, The Schoolhouse Caper, Ichabod’s Romance, and Night Encounter. Following the energetic and heroic Overture, in The Smoke Out tone clusters represent the buildup of smoke in Ichabod’s singing school. Chorale-like passages suggest the music of the singers in training. The movement ends in transition, as Brom Bones and his small band of pranksters gallop off to their next adventure. The third movement, The Schoolhouse Caper, combines very aggressive and topsy-turvy passages with humorous, plodding interjections. Ichabod’s Romance begins as a beautiful unaccompanied ballad which is abruptly disturbed by a cacophony of muted brass, suggesting the whining of Brom’s mocking dog. Beautiful hymn-like sections serve as the backdrop to heartfelt solo passages, which are again disturbed by Brom’s annoying dog. The movement ends as it began, with the beautiful solo. The intense final movement, Night Encounter, depicts Ichabod’s frightening and fateful run-in with the Headless Horseman, suspected by some to be Brom Bones in disguise."