Thom Ritter George

QUINTET NO. 5 For Brass Instruments, CN 326 (1986)
 

PROGRAM NOTES

Thom Ritter George's QUINTET NO. 5 was written during the period of December 31, 1985 to February 1, 1986 for The Saint Louis Brass Quintet, an ensemble of virtuosi who specialized in playing all of the composer's brass chamber music. The Saint Louis Brass Quintet also issued recordings of George's QUINTET NO. 1 and QUINTET NO. 4.

QUINTET NO. 5 is in three movements, the first of which is marked Vivace giocoso. Here the composer uses sonata-allegro form as a framework for his major themes, both of which are lively and energetic. The musical ideas are scored to produce a marked dialogue between the instruments of the quintet.

Eschewing the expected Adagio as a contrasting second movement, the composer provides a Grazioso in the form of a minuet. The central section of this movement is unusual because the trumpet players are not only asked to put in mutes and play their music at the softest possible dynamic level, but they are instructed to point their bells to the back of the stage. This distant trumpet music is answered antiphonally by the unmuted horn, trombone, and tuba playing rich harmonies.

The final movement, "Introduction and Rondo," begins with a stately Adagio in the character of a recitative. This impassioned introduction leads directly to the rondo, written in the bright tempo marking of Allegro con spirito. Technically, the rondo is an example of "sonata-rondo" form since the central section develops the principal theme rather than introducing new and contrasting thematic material. As this optimistic music progresses, the quality of dialogue between the instruments, first heard in the opening movement, returns and increases the musical excitement. Near the end, a few important chords from the "Introduction" are heard once more before the music increases in speed and sounds the final notes of the coda.

(TRGcm:1996.11.14)