David Sampson’s Duncan Trio (2002), scored for trumpet, horn, and trombone, exemplifies a composer writing in his wheelhouse. The opening movement, “Reflection,” begins with the instruments muted and in close range, creating an essential brassy sound. It then enters a fast tempo area and pulls apart into the three distinct voices, expanding the range, dynamic level, and articulation style of the ensemble. In the hands of a composer without brass training, these shifts might happen clumsily, but Sampson, who studied trumpet performance at Curtis and the Manhattan School of Music, writes for brass as someone would write for his own voice.
The world of new music can be a lonely one for a brass player.
The traditional educational path of a composer involves keyboard skills, lots of score study and perhaps a decent understanding of string bowings, but it can be hard to know where even to begin with the many and varied instruments at the back of the orchestra. What’s more, the typical ensembles at composer training programs--the Pierrot ensemble, the string quartet, the saxophone or percussion quartet, the reed quintet--typically don’t include brass. This makes it all the more critical for brass players to commission their own works and write for their own kind.
The Duncan Trio came about in just this way. Dorothy Duncan commissioned the piece as a fiftieth birthday gift for her brother, trumpet player James Duncan, and it has since endured as a recorded and commonly-performed work for brass trio. It’s worth considering the next time you reflexively go to order another Amazon gift card as a birthday present!
-Kara LaMoure