Review

Marco Bordogni
Melodious Etudes Volume II: arranged for Brass Quintet

Arranged by Nir Fishkin

2 b-flat trumpets, horn in F, trombone, tuba

Vancouver, BC, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 2022
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com

Primary Genre: Brass Ensemble - 5 brass

Marco Bordogni’s Melodious Etudes have been essential legato study material in low brass studios across the United States and beyond for nearly a hundred years. Arranger Nir Fishkin has taken some of the most memorable melodies from these familiar books and arranged them for brass quintet. Fishkin’s second volume of ten Bordogni etudes is a wonderful addition to the brass quintet repertoire.

This quintet is appropriate for advanced performers and would be great for a student university brass quintet or to add to the library of any established gigging quintet. Trumpet parts are in b-flat and the trombone part is solely in bass clef. This homophonic music is made interesting for each performer by fluidly passing the shared melody between parts. However, it does mean that each part also has a significant amount of repetitive accompanimental responsibility, often with very little break. Advancing the melody in a way that creates an overall sense of cohesion between all five parts is the true challenge with these etudes. The length of each song varies from approximately one to three minutes.

Written-pitch instrument ranges: combined b-flat trumpets – g to c3, horn – g to b2, trombone – G to a, tuba FF to f.