Brass Quintet No. 1
Circus
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SKU: PR.114413790
Circus. Composed by Clint Needham. Premiered: August 2003 in Harris Hall at the Aspen Music Festival. Set of Score and Parts. With Standard notation. 28+8+8+8+8+8 pages. Duration 10 minutes. Theodore Presser Company #114-41379. Published by Theodore Presser Company (PR.114413790).UPC: 680160583676.
Our newest young star, Clint Needham, is already much-lauded as a composer. This example of his work, Brass Quintet No. 1, was the winner of a composition competition at the 2004 Brass Chamber Music Forum, premiered by The American Brass Quintet at that Forum, and subsequently recorded by the same group on their 2007 release Jewels (Summit Records). Five contrasting movements describe the composer's "traumatic" trip to a circus — an event far from pleasant for the young Needham!.
Brass Quintet No. 1 “Circus” was premiered in August of 2003 in Harris Hall at the Aspen Music Festival. The work won the 2004 Brass Chamber Music Forum Composition Competition and was performed by the American Brass Quintet at the conference held at Appalachian State University. The work is recorded by the American Brass Quintet’s 2007 Summit Records release entitled “Jewels.”I drew inspiration for my brass quintet from not so fond memories of a circus I was forced to attend when I was younger. The first movement, Entry, depicts the overwhelming chaos as one enters the tent; the noisy crowd, the sights, and the smells mesh together to create a disenchanted ‘welcome to the circus.’ The second movement, Clowns, portrays these creatures as the vile beings they are through use of a demonic waltz. The third movement, The Ringleader, is a grotesque fanfare for the master of (evil) ceremonies himself. The fourth movement, The Contortionist, portrays the only calm and beautiful happening I remember from the circus. The fluid motion of the musical lines and the pauses at the end of phrases are an attempt to bring to realization of the slow movements and frozen positions of a contortionist. The fifth movement, Finale, is a quick and feverish gallop. The frenzied circus performers, in a sudden surge of mass confusion, all come back into the ring as I make a mad dash for the door. Ironically, the door I ran out of faced an old Spanish mission… a sight which brought much needed comfort! Needless to say this was a traumatic experience for me.