Fanfare 80 (Winds and Piano)

Fanfare 80 was written in celebration of the Music Institute of Chicago’s 80 years of service to aspiring musicians in the Chicagoland area.  The opening of the work has all the hallmarks of a classic fanfare, including repeated note gestures and antiphonal volleys between the instruments.  However, it is set in a jaunty alternation of 7 and 11 beat measures that give it an off-kilter feel, interrupted at several points by a savage dance-like element introduced in the piano.  This alternation of the celebratory and the savage, like the personas of Jeckle and Hyde, persist until they merge about half-way through the piece into what one could only characterize as a savage celebration.  This music continues to rise in intensity and at its apex, the opening gesture returns unexpectedly before a final flurry to the finish.   Fanfare 80 was commissioned to be premiered by the resident ensembles at the Music Institute of Chicago so exists in an orchestral version in addition to versions for woodwind quintet and piano trio.  The woodwind quintet version was written for Quintet Attacca and the trio version for the Lincoln Trio.