Consonanze Stravaganti

From Wind Repertory Project
Andrew Thomas

Andrew Thomas


Subtitle: Music for Brass Quintet


General Info

Year: 1981
Duration:
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: AndHow Arts
Cost: Score Only (print) - $39.95   |   Parts Only (print) - $25.75


Instrumentation

Full Score
Trumpet I-II
Horn in F
Trombone
Bass Trombone


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

Giovanni Macque served in the court of Prince Fabrizio Gesualdo da Venosa. The prince was the father of Carlos Gesualdo, and both the son and Macque composed music sharing certain characteristics during the same period.

Most of Giovanni Macque's works are madrigals. From among the small number of his keyboard works I have chosen to adapt the Consonanze Stravaganti as a set of variations for brass quintet. The Consonanze Stravaganti is a short but astonishing experiment in harmonic progressions. Its chromaticism rivals or even surpasses that of Gesualdo, and its fresh charm, for twentieth century ears, lies both in its bold tonal shifts and in its naive simplicity.

The keyboard work is in four voices which, for convenience, I have labeled soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. Each variation, in addition to its overt musical content, contains one or more of these lines, stated either directly or deviously. The structure of the music is as follows:

Theme
Variation 1: Theme plus Descant
Variation 2: Canons at unison, octave, and fifth (Alto Descant)
Variation 3: Fantasia on chords from Variation 2
Variation 4: Chase" Canons (Alto Descant)
Variation 5: Fantasia
Variation 6: Double Retrograde Canon
Variation 7: Theme and Variations (from Alto Descant)
Variation 8: Dance

The composition was composed in 1981 and is dedicated to The American Brass Quintet.

- Program Note by composer


Commercial Discography


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project


Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources

  • Thomas, A. (1981). Consonanze stravaganti : music for brass quintet [score]. [s.n.]:[s.l.].