Ira Taxin: on his Fanfare for Brass Quintet

Ira Taxin, composer and chair of the composition department at Juilliard Pre-College visited my brass quintet coaching today at Juilliard. The quintet was preparing for a performance of his Fanfare for Brass Quintet.

This Fanfare is a challenging and fun 30 second piece for brass- packed full of complex rhythms, with  low notes and high notes for everyone.  It’s takes a bit of work to pull this piece off well!

Here are some things we learned during his visit.

• Composed for the Empire Brass Quintet

• Mr. Taxin went to school in Boston with Rolf Smedvig, hence the connection with the EBQ.

• Composed around the time of the United States Bicentennial (1976), and is in the same vein as many of the other pieces which were commissioned in the United States at the time: flashy, celebratory, patriotic.

• Taxin’s brass writing was influenced by the music of Varese.

• Attacks should be crisp, especially accents and forte-piano sections, with big swells in dynamics from soft to loud.

• The crazy horn/trombone duet in the middle of the piece should definably sound wild, dramatic, and very loud. It is in the middle of the piece, and the most musical tension should be built up here.

• Mr. Taxin loves the sound of tuba in quintet, and the low brass octaves should be full and thick, especially near the end of the piece.

• Much of the music is centered around the contrast/conflict between the two conflicting groups- the two trumpet parts and the three low brass parts.

It’s not often you get to spend time with the composer of a well known piece, so it was a special treat to be able to speak with Mr. Taxin about his music.  Hopefully he enjoys the performance later today at the chamber music recital!