Review

John Davison
Brass Quintet:
Two trumpets, horn, trombone, tuba

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 2019
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com

Score and parts

Primary Genre: Brass Ensemble - 5 brass

John Davison was born in Istanbul to American parents in 1930, studied at Juilliard, received his Master’s degree from Harvard and his doctorate from Eastman. He was Professor of Music at Haverford College in Pennsylvania from 1959 until his death in 1999, and was the composer of more than 140 pieces including Sonata for trombone and piano (Op.9 1957) published by Templeton in 1966 and recorded by Henry Charles Smith in the 1960’s and by Jemmie Robertson (MSR) in 2008, Quintet for trombone and string quartet (Op.42, 1970), Suite for trombone choir (Op.84, 1987), Trio Sonata for trumpet, trombone and piano (Op.94, 1987), Sonata a Quattro for four trombones (Op.101, 1990) and Sonata for three trombones and piano (Op.112, 1991).

This quintet was written in 1974 and given the Opus number 53. It is in a free, atonal and lyrical style, sometimes reminding of Hindemith and always idiomatic for the medium of brass quintet. Each of the four movements has a distinct ‘personality.’

 	
Passacaglia Andante 3/4 ♩=92, begins with trombone and tuba in octaves and introduces 11 tones in the first six measures. After that, all parts have largely independent melodic lines, comprised of 2-4 measure phrases.
 	
Scherzo Presto 3/4 dotted half = 84 This is based on two, five-note phrases that are only slightly extended during development.
 	
Ballad Molto moderato 3/4 ♩=72 “In the style of an English folk-song” (Cherry website). It begins with trumpet playing a melody in the Aeolian mode and becomes more chromatic as the movement progresses. It ends quietly with a muted C major chord.
 	
Allegro Vivace 2/2 half =112. The scoring here is high density with few rest measures in any part, and there are page-turning issues in the trombone and tuba parts. The writing is again highly chromatic but the movement ends on an emphatic chord of C major.

The trombone part is at an intermediate level of difficulty, in bass and tenor clefs, range E (D optional)-c², and has 104 rest measures out of a total 575 measures. Trumpet parts are in B-flat; trumpet 1 tops out at d³. Trombone and trumpet parts call for straight and cup mutes.

This work was formerly published by the now defunct Pocono Brass publishing company and recorded as Brass Quintet No.1 by The Chestnut Brass Company on their Crystal CD Pastime with Good Company (1988). There appears to be no Brass Quintet No.2 included in the published list of the composer’s works.