Antoine Simon

22 petits morceaux d'ensemble Vol. 2

This collection originally appeared in print under the title '22 PETITS MORCEAUX D'ENSEMBLE pour instruments de cuivre ... PAR ANT. SIMON. Op. 26'. In those days, brass pieces were generally performed in open-air bandstands located in public gardens. There brass ensembles of all descriptions entertained their listeners up to the time of the First World War. In all countries of the earth where string ensembles and symphony orchestras performed for the nobility and the upper classes, brass groups played for the common people. Stylistically, Simon's compositions for brass instruments can be situated between the twelve brass quintets that Jean Bellon (1795-1869) composed between 1848 and 1850 for a small Eb keyed bugle or cornet, another cornet, a valved horn, a trombone, and an ophicleide (all published in 2000 by Editions Bim), the Twelve Little Pieces by Ludwig Maurer (1789-1878), which were published posthumously in 1881, and the first quintet by Victor Ewald (1870-1935), which was printed in 1912. Maurer's quintets were written for two B-flat cornets, two horns in E-flat (occasionally in F), and a trombone, a formation virtually identical to that of Simon's quintets. Ewald, on the other hand, dropped the trombone; the lower three parts of his three quintets are for alto horn, tenor horn, and tuba. Simon's melodic and harmonic writing are greatly indebted to Tchaikovsky, but he also retained certain French traits having to do with taste and refinement. The passionate dynamic outbursts within the 22 compositions of this Op. 26 are noteworthy, since these are not long, extended pieces, but rather miniatures. With his title - 'Petits morceaux' - the composer was probably influenced by Maurer with his 'Little Pieces'. The individual pieces with their characteristic titles correspond musically to the derivative architecture of the time.