Search results for: 'Aldo Forte'

EETT Learn More

Recommended for a college level ensemble, this is sure to be a nice challenge for any group.

3 Flutes and 1 Alto Flute

I. BAREFOOT ON THE BEACH (a march)

II. SUNRISE SOLILOQUY (an air)

III. DOLPHIN DANCE (a bourree)

IV. WAVE PLAY (a rondo)

Dauphin Island is a barrier island on the gulf coast of Alabama.  It remains a quiet community populated by fishermen, locals, teachers and students at the Sea Lab facility, without the plastic gristle of so many near-by tourist spots.  People do visit the town and old Fort Gains on the east end of the edge of Mobile Bay.

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SATB:

Fort Worth Funk was written to provide a light-hearted, engaging selection for Saxophone Quartet.  It begins with a dramatic statement from the Baritone Saxophone, who lays down the opening groove.  The other members of the quartet enter one at a time, while the composition builds to a virtuostic moment for the full quartet.  The staggered entrances also provide an opportunity to stage theatrics as well.  Appropriate rhythms and articulations are meticulously notated to help players achieve an authentic “funk” style in their performance.  The piece is loosely based on the chord changes to the jazz standard “Well You Needn’t”, which appears briefly in swing style at the end of the piece.  Chord changes and written solos are provided during the improvised sections, to bring the piece within the grasp of a wide spectrum of players. 

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Grind was written for the UMKC tuba and euphonium ensemble in late 2018 and is meant to represent the constant moving and turning of clock gears. The piece begins with the first tuba introducing the rhythmic foundation with the rest of the ensemble joining in to create a driving composite rhythm. Brief moments of jarring interruptions slice through the otherwise subtle material. Euphonium and tuba features follow, with the lyricism of the two instruments being showcased. A powerful triple-forte segment then transitions into a tranquil, chorale section led by the tubas. Quick fragments of the original material lead into a recapitulation of the beginning that slowly diminishes until the clock ceases to tick. Learn More

‘In Spirit Jubilo’ is an exciting and energetic march for Brass Quintet that can be used as an opening piece for any concert or occasion. The melody moves throughout the ensemble accompanied by counter melodies, again by each section. The piece builds to a forte ending. Your audience will keep this melody in their memory. Learn More

unaccompanied: In 3 colorful, picturesque movements: The Far Side, Eclipse, and Panorama. In the first movement forte melodic flourishes contrast with quiet phrases as to suggest the dramatic moonscape of the mysterious part of the moon only visible from spacecraft. Eclipse is animated, rhythmically intriguing, and suspenseful. The final movement, Panorama,is characterized by exciting, fiery sections juxtaposed with two short cadenza-like passages. Lunar Vistas received its premier performance on on October 9, 2005 by Edward Palanker at An Die Musik in Baltimore, Maryland. Learn More

The opera “Raymond” was premiered in 1851 and has long fallen out of the repertoire – however, its overture has become a favorite of light-classical audiences. It is a rousing work with beautiful themes, romantic flair, and stunning virtuosity reminiscent of a Rossini overture. This version was written for euphonium quartet with divisi options for a larger ensemble. It was written for and premiered by the United States Interservice Euphonium Choir under the direction of Brian Bowman at the 2012 U.S. Army Tuba-Euphonium Conference in Fort Myers, Virginia. Learn More

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4 Euphs and 4 Tubas Learn More

3 Euph and 5 Tbas Learn More

4 Euphs and 4 Tubas Learn More

with Piano

Sonata for Tuba & Piano, originally titled “Andante & Allegretto”, was written for Jay Norris, a colleague and good friend from our time with the United States Army Field Band and premiered at the US Army Band Tuba/Euphonium Conference at Fort Myer, VA in (or around) 1992.

The title is changed from “Andante & Allegretto” as that didn’t quite accurately describe the piece. After taking far too much time deliberating over what to call it, I settled on the hardly original “Sonata” with the subtitle “Prayer & Supplication”. The two movements are linked by a brief quasi-cadenza with thematic material from the first section restated toward the end of the piece.

The subtitle “Prayer & Supplication” is taken from Philippians 4:6. While sacred music does make up a good portion of my fairly modest output, I don’t recall consciously thinking in those terms while writing the piece (though may have been subconsciously). In any case, it does suggest some rather intense emotional, even spiritual struggle, concluding with eventual resolution.

In December 2016, there was the remarkable opportunity to work through the piece with New York Philharmonic tubist Alan Baer at Juilliard. (This was after a rehearsal with the NY Phil brass and percussion for their annual Holiday concert that included a piece Phil Smith had commissioned). Al had some very helpful suggestions, not necessarily big things but little things that made a difference.

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with Piano

This is a challenging three movement work that Demondare Thurman and Kathryn Fouse premiered at the 2015 U.S. Army Tuba-Euphonium Workshop at Fort Myer, VA.  This is a wonderful addition and perfect all aspiring college Euphonium players.

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“St. Vincent is a short, somewhat wistful piece, with traces of struggle found in nearly every phrase. The outer form is crisp: four eight-bar phrases are followed by a ten-bar digression, which leads to a recapitulatory eight-bar phrase. All of these begin and end squarely, diatonically, in A. (Analysis transposed.) Inside the phrases, however, there is an element of chromaticism, D#, which seems to struggle to reach its goal, E. It gets frustrated at every turn, whether by enharmonic reinterpretation or by outright rejection.

Phrase 1 (mm. 1–8) is entirely diatonic, not only featuring an oscillation between IV and I6, but also cadencing on the subdominant itself, instead of the V or I. This emphasis on D, rather than E, foreshadows both the chromatic drama to come as well as the final cadence of the piece, which is not authentic but plagal. Phrase 2 (mm. 9–16) opens with a tonic pedal but retains the IV in the upper voices before carrying that upper structure through through theme in parallel motion over the pedal. The upper structure’s root-position voicing offers a contemporary flair. The phrase ends in a half cadence with a 4-3 suspension. Phrase 3 (mm. 17–24) opens with the theme now supported by the root-position IV. Again the subdominant is favored over the tonic or dominant. A half cadence soon follows, this time with a 6-5 suspension. Phrase 4 (mm. 25– 32) opens with the theme over a dominant pedal, which quickly retreats to the subdominant before leading to a more conventional authentic cadence, now combining the prior suspensions into one 6/4-5/3 suspension on the tonic. One might view this phrase as a consequent phrase finally answering three antecedents.

Phrase 5 (mm. 33–42) is a ten-measure diversion, sequentially leading to the parallel minor key, in which a half cadence unambiguously asserts A minor with a flourish of neighboring C-natural and F-natural. Phrase 6 (mm. 43–50) makes a final statement of the theme, closing squarely on tonic (without suspensions).

A struggling, chromatic D# is introduced in Phrase 2 (m. 14). Here, as part of a V of V, it may be expected to lead to the dominant, E. However, it leads directly to the root, D, of a IV7 chord. This sort of sublimation of a raised 4th scale degree is not uncommon in various moments in the repertoire, but in St. Vincent it is only the beginning of the story. The D# is relentlessly negated in this piece by D, multiple times in multiple ways. In Phrase 3 (m. 21) the D# is again driving toward E, this time supporting a V6 (“add 2”), of V but is immediately, though temporarily, deprived of its goal by the cross-related D-natural in another voice. This chord, enharmonically a iiø4/3 (F-B-D-A) does lead to the D#’s original goal, the E. Sitting atop this fifth scale degree, however is not the dominant chord. It is an unstable tonic major-seventh chord. It leads to the stable dominant in measure 24, but not without yet another D#/D cross relation. This time, the D# is a 9-8 suspension in a tonicized iii chord. It’s resolution to C# is followed by a strident, key confirming D-natural in the bass. This return of D-natural is made all the more prominent by its not being connected by slur to the E that follows.

In Phrase 4, the D# is again denied but in a surprising new way. The mezzo-forte chord in measure 28 is easily interpreted as a D# diminished-seventh chord with an unresolved 4-3 (G#- F#) suspension. After all, there is a precedent. The same chord and suspension are heard at the beginning of measure 21. In that case, however, the suspension (D-C#) is realized. In this case, the G# is left lingering in the most pregnant of mid-phrase pauses. The G# does not lead to F# to form a complete diminished seventh chord, acting as yet another V (or viio) of V. Instead the G# is held, while A reveals itself as a dissonant accented neighbor. When it resolves to G#, the listener is left with a pure G# major triad. The logic behind this enharmonic twist becomes clear when this G# triad (V of iii) leads, in descending-fifths fashion to a C# minor (iii), which leads smoothly and diatonically to the authentic cadence in measure 31.

Interestingly, it is in the ensuing digression, not in the expository sections, that the D# is allowed finally to attain its resolution to E. In m. 34, the D# participates in a conventional applied dominant leading to V. Soon enough, though, the original modus operandi returns. The passage leads to a confirmation of the parallel minor by way of an augmented sixth chord (m. 40, F-A-C-D#). This heightened dissonance more strongly demands resolution to E, but is yet again denied as the D# leads not to E but to D-natural, resulting in a reprise of the iiø4/3 (F-A-B-D) heard earlier. Previously, the chord was an example of modal mixture, suggesting A minor but leading ultimately to a V in A major. But here the minor mode is not merely suggested; it is realized.”

- Amir Zaheri

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Dedicated to the McCormick Duo, this colorful, engaging work juxtaposes mystical, lyrical, and energetic sections in a manner analogous to the ebb and flow of emotions experienced by the composer during meditation on the awesome grandeur of a starry night. From mystical, quiet murmurings to intense and brilliant forte passages, the music showcases the great expressive range of the flute and marimba duo. Recorded on the CD "McDuo Works for Flute and Percussion" by the McCormick Duo (Ravello Records) Learn More

2 Euphs, 3 Tubas and optional Percussion

TUBAS LATINAS (overture for tuba ensemble) is a one movement work commissioned by Earnest Walls for the Tennessee Tech Tuba Ensemble, R. Winston Morris, Director, and is dedicated to this outstanding and renown group of musicians. The work was composed between December 1991 and January 1992 on a request by Mr. Morris for a piece to be premiered at the 1992 National M.E.N.C. Convention in New Orleans (April 1992) and later to be performed at the International T.U.B.A. Conference in Lexington, Kentucky (May 1992). 

TUBAS LATINAS is scored for 2 Euphonium and 3 Tuba parts along with 2 optional percussion parts (Perc. 1: 2 claves and 2 cowbells, the latter to be mounted on a stand and played with snare drum sticks)(Perc. 2: 2 maracas and tambourine). The composition is approximately 6 minutes in length and contrasts Spanish and latin american musical elements. It consists of 4 sections in a slow-fast-slow-fast format. The first section opens with a slow introduction featuring Euph. 1. in a cantabile Spanish style melody. The second section, which begins at measure 18, consists of bullfight bravura type music which is occasionally interrupted by syncopated jazz rhythms. In section 3, which begins at measure 134, the opening melody of the introduction returns, this time dressed in different garb. A solo Tba. 1. cadenza leads to section 4. This section contrasts with the previous 3 spanish sections since it is in a latin style. This final section, which begins at measure 147, is as long as the previous 3 sections combined. A secondary theme from section 2 (meas. 68-83) is developed in latin style during the second part of section 4 (meas. 175-186 and 216-224). It is also in this section that the optional percussion parts are introduced. All players should ensure that the latin style rhythms are played effortlessly, never hurried or labored. 

Aldo Rafael Forte

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Capuzzi’s Violone Concerto is a staple solo work for double bassists. It was written for the Violone (big viol), a five or six string predecessor to the double bass which, like the tuba, was a contra- bass instrument. This arrangement for Solo Tuba and Brass Quintet will give it new life and present tubists with a piece to perform with their brass colleagues. Giuseppe Antonio Capuzzi (1753-1818) was an Italian composer and violinist from Bergamo who, at times, lived in Venice and London. The work is a typical three movement classical concerto, fast-slow-fast. The Allegro moderato is in sonata form and opens with a brass quintet statement, solo tuba first theme, secondary theme and development. A tuba cadenza is followed by the recapitulation and an ending in the brass. The second movement is a beautiful Andante cantabile in the dominant. Short brass solos compliment the tuba throughout. The finale is a fast Rondo with a slightly slower section in the parallel minor. The movement ends with a technical flourish by the tuba and in all the brass. This piece works better for tuba than most transcriptions because doesn't require octave transpositions or an uncommonly high solo part.

James Gourlay and the River City Brass recorded this piece on their "Tour de Force" CD.

The Rondo was recorded by members of the Pacific Symphony Orchestra on Jim Self’s CD, Changing Colors--Summit DCD 132.

Performance suggestions: This music is “classical” and needs a delicate touch—especially in the brass quintet accompaniment. A sense of balance with the solo tuba is paramount and forte passages should be tempered. An Eb Trumpet might be a good choice for the 1st part. A good seating would be in a semi-circle, in score order with the tuba opposite the 1st trumpet-- bell out to the audience Learn More