Brass Knuckles

Brass Knuckles for Brass Quintet is in two movements.  This work is a reaction to the increasingly anxious times in which we now find ourselves, surrounded by heightened tensions and senseless violence. It may be a source of debate as to why this climate exists at this particular time, but much like my work “Occupy” for piano quartet, which derived inspiration for the Wall Street protest, this work is not meant to be a form of political or social commentary but rather a way to express raw emotions by association.  The first movement, “Sucker Punch”, conveys the sense that one is blindsided by events; that the proverbial wind has been knocked out.  This movement explores the division of the quartet into two groups; those that produce the attacks of the sounds and those that quietly sustain the impact, contributing to a constantly changing coloristic palette where the duration of any given sound is ultimately the combined effort of two or more instruments.  The second movement, “Shadow Boxing”, embodies the hypervigilant self-protectionism of these tumultuous times where forces that would harm us seem to be coming from everywhere.  A lightning quick and persistent, asymmetrical rhythm of alternating 17/16 and 14/16 bars is used as a perpetual element, like the thumping of a speed bag, as jagged melodic lines dart in and out.  The lines come to predominate in the middle of the movement and are “shadowed” by a muted trumpet. Ultimately the perpetual rhythm returns in full force and undergoes a process of truncation, producing a sense of unprecedented speed and ferocity.