Judith Shatin

2 Trumpets in B-Flat and 2 Snare Drums

Composer's Note:

Hearing the Call , commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra as part of the Hechinger Fanfare commission project, was inspired by the music of call and response heard in settings, ranging from religious to jazz. Paired trumpet and snare drum are stationed to the right and left of the stage, creating an antiphonal setting. The music is tossed back and forth, with partners forming, shifting, and rejoining, though the stereo pairings of trumpet and snare drum are the main focus. The instrumentation of brass and percussion and the brightly colored harmony are typical of fanfares, though the rhythmic and timbral interplay are more suggestive of call and response.

Hearing the Call was premiered at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC on 11/30/95. It has since been recorded by St. Mary’s Brass on Sonoma Records, S022591, on an album of new brass music named for this piece.