henningmusick: Moonrise: I had written [...] several "functional" pieces for brass quintet (or brass quintet plus) for use in various services. While I enjoy the challenge of writing for a specific occasion (and appreciate the opportunity to furnish music for specific use), after a while I wanted to write a concert piece for brass quintet, which did not need to fulfill any purpose other than sounding as I wish it to sound.
Not coincidentally, as I read this introductory paragraph for my program notes for Moonrise, this more or less tells the tale: All the short "functional" pieces were performed immediately. Moonrise has waited 10 years for its first performance.
It proved a hard sell even for the quintet for whom I initially wrote it. We six got together for a reading (and, dadgummit, they could have recorded that reading, but for whatever reason{s} tape was not running). On the whole, there was positive response ... and yet, though they had a full slate of tour dates, their regular fare was arrangements of Renaissance polyphony and of Gershwin (not saying a word against either), and they didn't see how they could fit Moonrise in.
So, not at all an unusual story: Wrote a good piece, knew it for a good piece, was never going to modify what was already a good piece ... but a piece which had to wait for both (a) a group who saw the music's merits and (b) the right venue.
Who: the MidTown Brass Quintet
Where: Norton Arts Center, 781 No. Central Avenue, Hapeville, Georgia 30354*
When: Sat, 24 January 2015, 20:00
* Not pictured below
4 comments:
May Moonrise shine into the future!
Hear, hear!
Beautiful piece - really enjoyed it, as played by the Midtown Brass tonight. (I'm the guy who runs the concert series they played in.)
Many thanks, Jeff!
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