Program Notes
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Despite his last name, Derek Bourgeois (October 1941 – September 2017) was born, raised, and educated in England. He was magnetically drawn to all aspects of musical culture, and his composition rate accelerated as he grew further into his career. His prestigious education included multiple degrees from Cambridge and a set of exceptional teachers at the Royal College of Music.
Bourgeois was extremely active as a conductor during the first half of his lifelong musical journey. His notable positions include the National Youth Orchestra, the Sun Life Band (later renamed the Stanshawe Band of Bristol), the Bristol Philharmonic Orchestra, and a founding member of the National Youth Chamber Orchestra of Great Britain. This active directorship was often coupled with top tier educational positions, such as Director of Music at St. Paul’s Girls School, and a 13 year stretch as lecturer at Bristol University.
Hardly a year went by without Bourgeois expanding his personal compositional canon. He was always extremely interested in the possibilities of balancing voices against ensembles, and wrote a prolific number of concertos and chamber concertos. He played no favorites with instruments, treating Bass Tuba, Clarinet, Percussion, various Voice types, groups of Trombones or Double Basses, Violin, and Organ in relatively equal measure. However, in 2002 there was a notable shift in Bourgeois’ compositional priorities. Prior to that year he had written 7 full symphonies, and a handful of what he referred to as chamber symphonies. But between 2002 and his passing at age 75, he wrote full symphonies almost exclusively, with the final count reaching 116 out of an Opus catalog of 391.
The Sonata for Brass Quintet, Op. 12 is equally symphonic, and certainly seems to hold some Russian compositional influence. Divided into three movements and brimming with drastic color changes, this Sonata is compelling, full of character, and not for the weak-willed performer. The First Movement is rhythmically charged and dark, often dividing the ensemble into pairs participating in call and response. This back and forth accelerates through the movement, and the dialogue begins to clash and overlap, giving a sense of rising anxiety. The Second Movement is a melancholy ballad, with a wistful melody demonstrated by a gently soaring trumpet being propped up by increasingly unsettling harmony from the other brass. The Third Movement is brash and fugal, with an almost holiday-like quality bouncing on top of the perpetual motion built by the tuba and french horn.
Anthony Plog (November 1947) is without a doubt a prodigy of brass excellence, featuring the trumpet as his primary instrument. Being born and raised in California gave him access to extensive exceptional musicianship and education, and by age 19 he found himself performing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. This first stint would lead him on a worldwide journey as an orchestral musician, proficient soloist, and composer.
Despite his origins as a brass player, Plog eventually stepped into the realm of large scale composition. His foray into operatic composition is unusual, since it marks a comparative number of works intended for children as for adults. Plog also holds increasing interest in symphonic and oratorio settings, and has a tendency to use dark thematic story material for inspiration, including drone crashes, recovering addicts, environmental concerns, and the Holocaust.
Plog has spent a majority of his career focused on international music education. The institutions he has lent his experience to are prominent and reputed for producing high caliber musical students. Some schools of note include USC and Indiana University, the Malmo Music Academy, Academia de Santa Cecilia, the Schola Cantorum, and the Freiburg Musik Hochschule. Plog is also an avid private instructor, lecturer, and clinician, and remains in demand both in the world of brass performance and in composition.
The Four Sketches mirror their title perfectly. The concept of melody is significantly reduced, allowing space for rhythmic interplay and overlapping angular ideas to move forward. The First sketch is a study in ostinato and perpetual motion, with running eighth notes being passed like a ball from player to player. The Second sketch is a game of hot potato between the trumpets, bouncing alternating beats back and forth before allowing the low brass trio to take over with tight harmonies and a metrically upsetting melody. The Third Sketch is long and funereal, acting as a study in intervals and open harmonies, before featuring a gravesite march and a resonant, longing finish. The Fourth and final sketch is a metric study, demanding unshakable focus from each performer and eventually announcing a near-complete quote of the First sketch before suddenly concluding on a simple major chord.
Michael Kamen (April 1948 – November 2003) is a stellar example of how academic musicianship acts as a basis for a wide variety of musical needs at all cultural levels. Growing up in New York allowed for a diverse set of opportunities, stemming primarily from the fertile creative ground of the High School of Music And Art. Graduation led easily into enrollment at the famed Juilliard School, where Kamen cut his compositional teeth on ballets and chamber music.
Kamen’s ideas and arrangements have had a substantial impact on the world of pop culture. Musicians who sought his work to amplify their projects include Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, Herbie Hancock, Bryan Adams, Kate Bush, and David Bowie. This involvement ranged from simple arrangements for parts of albums (such as orchestrating November Rain for Guns ‘n Roses), to massive global participation (like joining Roger Waters at his Berlin performance of The Wall in 1990).
Kamen also enjoyed widespread film success. His soundtrack participation includes The Three Musketeers, 101 Dalmatians, Highlander, Die Hard, Mr. Holland’s Opus, WALL-E, and The Iron Giant. Based on the widespread appeal he enjoyed, it is clear Kamen felt no restriction of genre, format of storytelling, or depiction of character. He also felt a need to express the social contributions that music has to offer by way of establishing The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation in 1996, which supports music education and instrument distribution to underserved music programs through the USA.
The Quintet that Intrepid Brass presents today was a direct commission by the world-renowned Canadian Brass in 2002, only one year before his passing. This Quintet is a haunting blend of harmonic simplicity and melodic directness. A listener will notice the French Horn as a prominent voice, highlighted by occasional parallel writing with a trombone or trumpet. The melodies are longing, and hold a continuous melancholy quality despite the continuous asserting of the simplest possible major key. This Quintet is appropriate both on the chamber stage and as a soundtrack for film or television. It is truly a fitting parting thought from the musings of Kamen’s imagination.
Eric Ewazen (March 1954) is a modern American composer of wide renown. His battery of teachers at Eastman and Juilliard is impressive, including the likes of Milton Babbit, Samuel Adler, Gunther Schiller, and Eugene Kurtz. He would later return and join the ranks of his former mentors by taking a position at Juilliard. Other educational endeavors include lecturer for the New York Philharmonic, faculty at the Lincoln Center and the Hebrew Arts School, and a position as Vice President for the League of Composers branch of the International Society for Contemporary Music.
A compositional jack-of-all-trades, Ewazen has enjoyed highly diverse opportunity. Famous elite festivals, ranging from Aspen and Tanglewood all the way to Woodstock have hosted his music. Commissions are wide in range, scaling from the Greenwich and Cleveland Symphonies to the Borealis Wind and American Brass quintets, the New York State Council on the Arts, various individuals from the New York Philharmonic, and National Public Radio.
Over recent years Ewazen has gradually become drawn to the brass family, inspired by the resonance of the instrument family, the opportunity for color mixing, and the incredible artists that have surfaced during his career. Colchester Fantasy is a four movement work depicting a series of scenes from Ewazen’s time traveling in Great Britain, specifically illustrating a group of pubs he visited. The Rose and Crown is stately, bookending broad, settling chorales around a running series of bouncing percussive effects. The Marquis of Granby begins solemnly, but gradually grows into ideas of ceremonial pomp, giving an impression of regality and honor. The Dragoon is threatening and dissonant, with different metric ideas constantly jousting for the audiences attention. The Red Lion is jaunty and lively, depicting a scene of merriment and close camaraderie among countrymen.
Notes by Dalton Williams, June 2025
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