Untitled Ensemble

Erika Raum

Fanfare for brass quintet

3 minutes

The Fanfare for Brass Quintet was written as part of Erika's application to be accepted into the composition department of the University of Toronto.

Greg Bartholomew 

Voyageur Suite

9 minutes

1. Quand j’étais chez mon père
2. Le retour du mari soldat

The voyageurs were French-Canadian men who paddled the canoes of explorers and fur traders from Quebec and Montreal to the regions bordering the Great Lakes and on westward to the Mackenzie and Columbia Rivers during the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries.  While they paddled hour after hour in their cramped canoes, the voyageurs sang about their canoes, their country, their life and their loves.  This suite is based on melodies from three of their songs.

At least two of my ancestors, both named Antoine Pepin, were voyageurs.  The premiere performance was given February 15, 2007, by the Alaska Brass of the United States Air Force Band of the Pacific in Anchorage.  Formore  information, visit gregbartholomew.com. 

Justin Gruber

Grand Beach for Brass quintet

9 minutes

Grand Beach” for Brass Quintet encapsulates a beautiful view in the heart of Manitoba, Canada. The push and pull of the waves brush the lives on the shore. The rocks emerging from the water rest in their natural space. Fish perk up gasping for air at the waters surface.

Michael Nunes

Macbeth

8 minutes

Macbeth—written for Anna Ding, Kevin Li, Noah Hawryluck, Shin Yu Wang, and Taylor Krause—is a tone poem based on Shakespeare’s famous tragedy. The piece begins with a stormy and thunderous overture and depictions of the witches’ mysterious prophecy, before painting a picture of the trusting kin whom Macbeth betrays in his bloody ascent to power. After an unrelenting fugal crescendo from Macbeth’s dagger hallucination to a string of violent, stabbing chords, the piece turns towards Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s increasingly desperate descent into madness— peppered with demented bitonal fanfares taunting the new king and queen—as the forces of Scotland and England march against them in a climactic and dramatic ending. The Brass Quintet version was arranged for Untitled Ensemble's Land of Lakes Emerging Composers Concert.

Cait Nishimura

When the clouds break

3 minutes

Imagine staring up at a sky that is bright and sunny, but full of layers of big clouds. As the clouds shift and move overhead, the sunlight dances around the edges of the clouds and teases the release of its warmth. When the clouds finally break, the sun pours through the sky for just a brief and glorious moment before being hidden again.

This experience is reflected musically in the harmonic tension and syncopated rhythms throughout this piece. The concept for when the clouds break came to me while improvising using three simple chords: G, D, and C, in a I-V-IV progression. I wondered if I could build a short piece around these chords, incorporating colourful suspensions and added tones throughout, only giving the pure form of each chord later in the piece as a long-awaited resolution (this moment occurs at rehearsal letter E). As I played around with these ideas, I was reminded of the moments of tension and release found both in nature and in the human experience.

This piece was released in 2020, when the COVID-19 global pandemic caused some pretty serious cloud cover over us all. My hope is to provide a brief moment of metaphorical sunshine to anyone who interacts with this piece.

~Intermission~

Elizabeth Raum

Festival Fanfare

8 minutes

Festival Fanfare was commissioned by the Saskatchewan Music Festival Association for Brass Quintet for the 100th Anniversary of the Saskatchewan Music Festival Association. Later, the Regina Symphony Orchestra requested that the piece be transcribed for orchestral brass and percussion. This piece employs textures reminiscent of 16th century composer Giovanni Gabrieli, while featuring mixed meters and modern yet accessible harmonic language.

Aidan Zhou

Brass Quintet in F minor "Promenade" 

4 minutes

Lauren Greenberg

The Classical Elements for brass trio

8 minutes

Fredy Abu Sido - trumpet, Chris Buchner - french horn, Hanna Wilson -trombone

I. Water
II. Air
III. Fire
IV. Earth

I composed four movements depicting the four Greek Classical Elements. Each of the movements has unique characteristics that, I believe, best represents each element.

I illustrate the waves associated with water by using a compound time signature (12/8, 6/8). This signature suggests water waves by making a triplet/wave rhythm.

The air movement centers around ascending and descending pentatonic scales, a key that sounds light because it has only five notes.

The trombone’s ability to glissando illustrates the uprising of hot flames in the fire movement.

In the earth movement, a pacing tempo with strategic quarter note/ eighth note rhythms mimics a person walking. In addition, the Earth movement reflects parts from the preceding movements to symbolize that all of the classical elements exist on planet Earth.

Chris Evan Hass

Olympian Suite for brass quintet

15 minutes

I. Hades: The Unseen
II. Poseidon: Earth Shaker
III. Zeus: Sky Father

Olympian Suite is a three movement piece for brass quintet depicting the Olympian brothers Hades,  Poseidon, and Zeus ruling over their respective assignments of the underworld, sea, and sky. 

Each movement embodies the mythology and lore surrounding the different Greek gods. “Hades:  The Unseen” begins with fiery and intense harmonies, but quickly transitions into feelings of  yearning and despair as the reality of his isolation sets in. The second movement, “Poseidon: Earth  Shaker” is dark and brooding, cycling between variations of a steady chaconne harmony acting as  waves crashing onto the earth’s surface. The suite ends with “Zeus: Sky Father”, a rhythmically  exciting depiction of Zeus flying around Olympus, concluding with a triumphant and noble chorale. 

"Hades: The Unseen" was originally written as a stand-alone piece and premiered by the New York  Philharmonic Principal Brass Quintet as part of CSU's Summer Arts Program in 2016. The latter  movements were added the following year, with a premiere of the full suite by the Fuoco Fino Brass  Quintet occurring in 2018.