Octet

Octet for Wind and Brass Instruments

MOVEMENTS:

one movement, approx 6’30”

INSTRUMENTATION:

flute, clarinet in b♭, 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets in b♭, tenor and bass trombone

PERFORMANCES:

2022-04-15: Premiere. Emory Wind Ensemble “Sharp Edges” concert.

PROGRAM NOTE:

Octet for Wind and Brass Instruments engages the idea of neoclassical music — a 20th-century aesthetic trend incorporating new sounds into the Classical period’s clear musical structures and harmonic language. Through this piece, the old and the new are put into dialogue. Bold gestures and formal structures reminiscent of the classical idiom are juxtaposed against both tonal and post-tonal vocabulary, chaotic, flowing textures, and mysterious timbres. This piece belongs fully to the contemporary — but intentionally acknowledges and draws from musical ideas from across the Western classical tradition.

Conducted by Tyler Ehrlich.

Performers: Sarah Abraham (flute), Eli Parrish (clarinet), Nathan Muz and Trisha Sengupta (bassoons), Graham Crain (trombone), Max Inman (bass trombone), Austin Watkinson and Joseph Rosenbaum (trumpets)