Music for Brass Instruments
General Info
Year: 1944 / 1949
Duration: c. 15:45
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Alfred Music
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $24.95
Movements
1. Chorale Fantasy on Christ Lay in the Bonds of Death – 6:50
2. Intermezzo – 3:05
3. Fugue – 5:45
Instrumentation
Full Score
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F
Trombone I-II
Tuba (optional)
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Music for Brass Instruments was completed in Toronto on 3 May 1944, during a Gracie Fields tour (Dahl was the regular accompanist for the comedienne when she toured North America), and may be seen as Dahgl's first composition in the tonal, neo-Classical style. After the premiere, Lawrence Morton noted that: "The spontaneous expression of approval and appreciation by a sophisticated audience, after a joyful and very American second movement and again at the end of the performance, should indicate to the composer that he has found here what he has long been seeking – the matter and manner of his own music."
As in many other works of the era, Dahl embraced musical traditions that hovered between the Baroque and a jazzy American idiom. In the opening movement he employed the chorale fantasy Christ Lay in the Bonds of Death. Elsewhere he was inspired (but not compelled) by the musical possibilities of the telephone number of Universal Studios and the dog tag number of his good friend, the composer Gail Kubik.
- Program Note by Anthony Linick for liner notes of Phoenix USA CD The Music of Ingolf Dahl
Dahl’s Music for Brass Instruments incorporates atonal techniques of serialism with a lyrical and Romantic aesthetic to great effect. The first movement is a chorale fantasy based on Johann Sebastian Bach’s Christ Lag in Todesbande. The second movement is a rollicking scherzo. The two main themes of the last movement are based on melodies derived from numerical associations with the telephone number of Universal Studios, where Dahl composed film music, and the army serial number of fellow composer Gail Kubik.
- Program Note from University of Texas Wind Symphony concert program, 23 February 2020
Commercial Discography
- Audio CD: New World Brass
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- United States Marine Band (Washington, D.C.) (Jason K. Fettig, conductor) - 17 October 2021
- Miami (Ohio) University Wind Ensemble (Gary A. Speck, conductor) - 16 March 2021
- University of Texas (Austin) Wind Symphony (Scott S. Hanna, conductor ) - 23 February 2020
- University of North Texas (Denton) Center Brass Quintet - 22 November 2015
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Concertino a Tre (1946)
- Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble (1949/1953)
- Hymn (orch. Boyd) (1947/1998)
- Music for Brass Instruments (1944/1949)
- Sinfonietta (1961/1969)
Resources
- Dahl, I. (1949). Music for Brass Instruments [score]. Alfred: Van Nuys, Calif.