FANFARE

Composer's Notes:

In the early 1980’s, I wrote a full concert of new original chamber music every year for four years. I would choose the players and write music for their particular talents. However, the first time I tried this, it didn’t work out. The music was difficult and the collection of players was difficult to assemble and organize. As a result, much of the music was orphaned, however three of the pieces were rescored and found performances in different circumstances. Fanfare has been modestly edited, but remains in essentially its original configuration.

I called it a fanfare, because the work is almost entirely loud. The horn can be brassy, and the percussion can be dominant. The double bass could possibly be drowned out at times, but since I play the bass, I tend to dismiss that thought.

The percussion consists of chimes, snare drum, and cowbells. The chime part is quite prominent and somewhat virtuosic. The snare drum is militaristic and insistent, and cowbells are noisy. For the ending, the opening three-bar unison passage is gradually rebuilt while the chimes stretch out into a passage that is reminiscent of change ringing. When the opening is finally re-assembled, a rim shot ends the piece.