Review

Leonello Capodaglio
Venetian Christmas Carol:
B-flat trumpet, horn, trombone

Massapequa, NY, United States
Publisher: Wiltshire Music Company
Date of Publication: 2019
URL: http://www.wiltshiremusic.com

Score and parts

Primary Genre: Brass Ensemble - 3 brass

At a time when composers strive to push the boundaries of music composition and performance, works centered around simple harmonies and beautiful melodies can be revitalizing. In this, Leonello Capodaglio delivers with a Christmas themed work for trumpet, horn, and trombone. Written in a “Byzantine” style, Venetian Christmas Carol resonates with the older Venetian school.

This stylistic approach, labeled by Capodaglio as “Reactivism,” was likely fostered by his teacher Gian Francesco Malipiero, a prominent force in the study and editing of works by Monteverdi, Vivaldi, Corelli, to name a few. Reactivism centers around the thesis that music, like all things, progresses in a cyclical rather than linear timeline and will ultimately “reset.”

Capodaglio’s Venetian Christmas Carol is a simple, yet undeniably attractive work. With a strong mixolydian influence, this work evokes a quasi-religious element, an effect of the “Byzantine” style. Seemingly, Capodaglio creates phrasing through use of fermatas and breath marks indicative of the chorale style dominated by J.S. Bach. This quintessential lyricism is enhanced by the warmer timbres of each instrument, written in comfortable ranges: trumpet c1-e-flat2, horn d-flat1-f2, and trombone e-flat-g-flat1. Trumpet and horn ranges are given in their respective transpositions, not in concert pitch.

As a Christmas song, Capodaglio’s work provides a palatable and welcome addition to an otherwise hackneyed genre. It is a charming composition that does not demand too much of the performers and can easily be included in a brass quintet performance.