Fanfares, Marches, Hymns & Finale

Bruce Broughton

This article is a stub. If you can help add information to it,
please join the WRP and visit the FAQ (left sidebar) for information.

General Info

Year: 2003
Duration: c. 21:00
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Masters Music Publications, through Keiser Southern Music
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $75.00 | Score Only (print) - $25.00

Movements

1. Fanfares - 2:30
2. Marches – 6:00
3. Hymns – 6:20
4. Finale – 4:35

Instrumentation

Full Score
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III-IV (I doubles E-flat trumpet; IV doubles flugelhorn)
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III-IV (IV doubles contrabass trombone)
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion

(percussion detail desired)

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Though best known for his television and film scores – ten Emmys, plus an Oscar nomination for Silverado and a Grammy nomination for Young Sherlock Holmes – Bruce Broughton has also composed a distinguished body of concert music, including several concertos and works for the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the Debussy Trio. Fanfares, Marches, Hymns, & Finale was composed for the Bay Brass in 2002, and premiered and recorded by that ensemble with the composer conducting.

The title is eminently self-descriptive of the style or attitude of each movement, which also correspond roughly to a classical symphony. The energetic Fanfares form a bright and positive opening. The jazz-inflected Marches make a sort of scherzo, off-kilter in a Prokofiev manner, and the Hymns are the slow movement, featuring expansively lyrical horns and prominent percussion decoration in a broad, Coplandesque soundscape. The dramatic Finale is the dark side of the opening movement, a relentlessly driven tour-de-force of tightly integrated ensemble and individual virtuosity.

- Program Note from Los Angeles Philharmonic Brass concert program, 5 may 2016

Fanfares, Marches, Hymns & Finale is a series of self-referential movements, each composed around an attitude expressed in the title rather than for any actual utilitarian use. Hence, it would be difficult to march to most of Marches, although it is composed of martial rhythms and associative figures. One could, however, sing the pentatonic (five-note) main theme from Hymns, which is composed in an American folk-hymn style and set in an atmosphere evocative of meditation and reflection, although there is no text associated with the themes. Fanfares is based upon an opening six-note motif first heard in unison. It precedes and announces the following three movements. As the plural aspect of the title indicates, fanfares open and close the movement itself. Needless to say, the spirited Finale brings the piece to a close.

The piece was commissioned by The Bay Brass and was premiered by that ensemble in November 2002 at a concert in Sacramento, Calif. with the composer conducting.

- Program Note from liner notes for Bay Brass CD Sound the Bells

Commercial Discography

Audio CD: Bay Brass - 2011

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Eastman School of Music (Rochester, N.Y.) Wind Ensemble (Lindsay Bronnenkant, conductor) - 6 November 2020
Brass-Ensemble des Symphonischen Blasorchesters Schwizer Armeespiel (Bern, Switzerland) (Phillippe Monnerat, conductor) – 19 July 2017 - WASBE Conference (Utrecht, Netherlands)
Los Angeles Philharmonic Brass – 5 May 2016

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

Little Acorns (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
The Mouse King (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
Pursuit (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
Shell Game (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
Takin' It Easy (Flex instrumentation) (2020)

All Wind Works

Alone Yet Not Alone (arr. Graham) (2013)
American Hero (2001)
A Celebration Overture (2014)
Concerto for Tuba and Winds (1987)
Concerto for Piccolo and Wind Ensemble (orch. Bass) (1992/2005)
Concerto for Trumpet, Euphonium, and Band
Dinosaurs (Broughton) (1992)
Excursions for Trumpet and Band (1995)
Fanfare for 16 Horns (2015)
Fanfares, Marches, Hymns & Finale (2003)
Flourishes (2022)
From Sea to Shining Sea
Frontier Overture, A (1982)
Harlequin (1984)
Heliotrope Bouquet
Hornworks
In the World of Spirits (2012)
Jag: Theme (2002)
Little Acorns (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
Masters of Space and Time
The Mouse King (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
New Era (2010)
Oliver's Birthday (1998/2008)
Open the Door! (2018)
Overture to "Miracle on 34th Street" (arr. Vinson) (2007)
Pursuit (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
Quaternity (2019)
Shell Game (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
Silverado (1985)
A Southern Jubilee (2019)
Spacious Skies (2017)
Takin' It Easy (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
Tent Meeting Revival (2014)
Terry Takes a Walk (2022)
Themes from "Silverado" (arr. Morsch) (1985)
Turbulence (2013/2016)

Resources

Broughton, B. (2004). Fanfares, Marches, Hymns & Finale : For Brass and Percussion [score]. Masters Music Publications: Boca Raton, Fla.