Review

Michael Stewart
Variations on “Simple Gifts”:
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Publisher: Wehr's Music House
Date of Publication: 1996
URL: http://www.wehrs-music-house.com

Primary Genre: Brass Ensemble - 6+ brass (choir)

This familiar melody inevitably evokes the orchestral settings made by Aaron Copland, which have become so popular over the last decades. There are several brass arrangements out there based on Copland’s conception, but this is not one of them. Michael Stewart’s Variations are original to him even though they do not venture far from the tune rhythmically or harmonically. A fanfare based on the first interval of the tune begins the composition and a full-voiced choral ends it. The variations consist of different orchestrations of the tune connected by short fanfare transitions. Stewart sets the melody in a minor mode for horn quartet and low brass, which is led by solo trombone, a nice touch. Piccolo trumpet richens the orchestration; the part stays in the staff and is quite playable. Rhythms are borrowed directly from the Shaker melody. While the variations are not terribly imaginative or involved, the tune itself is always present, a melody that seems to please audiences the world over. A good high school level brass choir can learn it quickly.

-Mike Hall
Old Dominion University