Anthony Plog

Concerto 2010 For Brass Quintet And Wind Ensemble

Exact instrumentation: quintet: 2 trumpets, horn, trombone, tuba [or bass trombone]; Wind ensemble: 6 flutes (min.3)[picc.], 3 oboes [e.hn], 9 clarinets (min.3), 1 bass clarinet, 2 bassoons - percussion (3), 4 horns (F), 2 trumpets (Bb), trombone, bass trombone

The Concerto 2010 is a four movement work for the combination of brass quintet and wind ensemble, and in certain passages the relationship between the two groups is the traditional one of soloist and accompaniment. But quite frequently this relationship becomes instead a partnership, with different voices of the brass quintet mixed with single voices of the wind ensemble, and the interplay of these two ideas provides much of the material for this work.

The first movement begins with the wind ensemble playing a theme that is calm and reflective, and this opening theme provides much of the melodic and harmonic basis for all that follows. After this short introduction an energetic allegro introduces the brass quintet, and in the middle of this allegro section a jazz element is introduced which is based on the opening intervals of the work. A return to this opening slow theme brings the movement to a close and a short transition leads to the second movement, which features the two trumpets of the brass quintet in many double tonguing passages. The use of mutes provides extra color possibilities.

Part two of the Concerto 2010 begins with a somber fugue in the clarinets, and a secondary theme then becomes the main theme for the last movements, which again is lively and energetic. After a cadenza featuring the brass quintet Concerto 2010 is concluded with a final reference to the opening theme.

Anthony Plog, Nov. 2010, Freiburg i. Br., Germany





The first performance was given by the American Brass Quintet and the Virginia Wind Symphony conducted by Dennis Zeisler on Nov. 14, 2010