Further, on Minerva Road

henningmusick: Because I do not shirk from splitting certain hairs:

Now, in this quietly tense interval between having finished Down Along the Canal to Minerva Road, and our first rehearsal, I already have the thought of arranging it for (say) brass quartet.

And, because I did not post that thought in mere idleness, this afternoon I have seen to this (a quartet of two each, trumpets & trombones).

And, because there was an immediately practical reason for this, I have sent the new arrangement right on, to two separate trumpeters (who do not, so far as I can determine, play in the same quartet).

The original scoring for the Op.149 was C flute, bass flute, A clarinet, horn in F.  Because my bass flutist (Peter H. Bloom) is going to be traveling for a while, right before the 17 April concert, I had the thought of providing an alto flute alternative to the bass flute line, to ease instrument carriage logistics.  At our rehearsal Tuesday evening, we played the piece with both instruments.  We all found that the alto flute was so entirely preferable, for reasons of both tone and balance, that I have simply struck the bass flute from the score, and the instrumentation is simply C and alto flutes, clarinet & horn.

Let no one say that I don't learn the lessons which spring up right before my eyes.