Bridges, Op. 136 (for Brass Quintet and Chimes) Brass Quintet - Digital Sheet Music

SKU: A0.1489487

One of my last assignments as an Air Force musician before being stationed in Japan was to perform music in support of the 50th commemoration of what has become known in America as “Vietnam Memorial Day.” It is observed on March 29 every year, the date when the last U.S. troops withdrew from Vietnam in 1973. After the memorable ceremony in 2023, I lingered to talk with those mature veterans and to hear some of their experiences. It was a strange feeling when I told them that my first assignment at my new duty station in Japan would be a series of cultural exchange performances in Vietnam. What a somber generational bridge.

I was only in Japan for a matter of days, including some intense rehearsals, before Pacific Brass (the brass quintet from the U.S. Air Force Band of the Pacific) packed up and headed to Hanoi to start our brief musical outreach in three cities. My reflections were sobering as I contrasted my military service in Vietnam with the veterans whom I had just honored three months prior. During some off-duty time, all five of the Pacific Brass military musicians found our way to the well-known Hòa Ló Prison, infamously known as the “Hanoi Hilton.” Indeed, how vastly different was my brief military service in Vietnam!

To the Vietnamese people, the “American War,” as they call it, is ancient history. They are extremely forward-thinking, putting those dark years far from them, looking to the bright future that is theirs. What an educational bridge of paradigms. Although it was important for us as U.S. Servicemembers to witness the Hòa Ló Prison firsthand, our lot was to experience the beautiful present-day Vietnam with its rich culture of food, street shops, temples, dance, music, and other wonders that awed us all—including gongs!

Our trombone player purchased a gong in a shop that sold little else besides gongs of all sizes and pitches. That struck me as quintessentially Vietnamese, and the sights and sounds of that modest shop lingered in my imagination. As we absorbed the extraordinary majesty of the Temple of Literature in Hanoi, ideas for this musical composition started to formulate as a bridge connecting American musical culture with Vietnamese traditional gongs. For practicality in both notation and live performance, I scored the consort of 18 glorious “gongs” in my head for orchestral tubular bells. It is a passionate hope that someday in a video presentation, a masterful cultural bridge of the two diverse countries will be crafted. Better yet, what an experience it would be to have a legitimate gong consort perform live with Pacific Brass!

The year of our visit, as we were coached many times by the Embassy’s Attaché, was a milestone landmark between the two nations, worthy of praise and celebration: the ten-year anniversary of the U.S.-Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership, signed by Presidents Obama and Sang in July 2013. This bilateral relationship has bridged both nations’ commitment to economic engagement, cultural exchange, tourism, education, and human rights. This composition is in celebration of this Comprehensive Partnership and a gift to the wonderful people of Vietnam. May this music contribute to a continuing growth of positive relations bridging the two nations.