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RepeRtoiRe of the New YoRk BRass QuiNtet

BY scott hagaRtY

January 2011 • Page 6

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 RepeRtoiRe of the New YoRk BRass QuiNtet
BY scott hagaRtY
This article was reviewed and approved for publication by the ITG Editorial Committee.
Introduction According to John Swallow, longtime trombonist of the
The New York Brass Quintet is regarded as the first serious New York Brass Quintet from 1958 – 1984, “The New York
brass quintet formed in the United States, and the members of Brass Quintet was formed initially to perform children’s con-
the group were pioneers in developing a repertoire for the brass certs in public schools in and around New York City and the
quintet as an instrumental genre. Prior to the formation of the repertoire was reflective of that need. Robert King’s publica-
New York Brass Quintet, repertoire for this kind of ensemble tions were a large part of that repertoire as were transcriptions
was scarce, and if it had not been for the efforts of groups like from within the group by Robert Nagel and John Glasel.”10 A
the New York Brass Quintet, there would not be much of a typical program from this time shows examples of this type of
repertoire to draw from today. Robert Nagel, founding trum- repertoire (Figure 1).
pet player and leader of the New York Brass Quintet, once said
about the genre, “If the creative aspect is not there in the reper-
toire, it will die a slow death. It’s not the performers; it’s the
creators and composers that provide us with our product.”1
When asked what he thought the New York Brass Quintet had
accomplished in terms of repertoire for the brass quintet as a
genre, Robert Nagel replied, “We established a significant
20th-century repertoire in particular.”2 He then referenced the
NYBQ music library housed in the Yale Music Library, which
contains an estimated 1,000 pieces for brass quintet as evi-
dence.3

New York Brass Ensemble

Any discussion of repertoire from the early years of the New
York Brass Quintet necessarily involves discussion of the New
York Brass Ensemble. This group was organized by Juilliard
School students who had returned to school on the GI Bill fol-
lowing World War II around 1946. However, prior to the for-
mation of the New York Brass Ensemble, Robert King, the
famous publisher of brass music, had discovered a treasure
trove of early music for brass instruments with the help of a
musicologist from Harvard University.4 He published this
music in the 1940s for a planned touring brass quartet that did
not come to fruition because of World War II. 5 Julian
Menken, trombonist with the New York Brass Ensemble,
became aware of the music Robert King discovered as early as
1942, and it helped provide the New York Brass Ensemble
with its repertoire.6 Some of the music discovered included
Henry Purcell’s Music for Queen Mary, Johann Pezel’s music
from Hora Decima, various canzoni by Giovanni Gabrieli and
some compositions by Anthony Holborne, John Adson, and
Tielman Susato.7 In addition, Arnold Fromme, another trom-
bonist in the New York Brass Ensemble, had brought back
manuscript copies of early brass music from his wartime sta-
tions in Europe featuring music of composers like Giovanni
Gabrieli, Johann Pezel, and Heinrich Schütz.8 Figure 1
Despite several performances, broadcasts, recordings, and a Building A Repertoire
brief tour of the Midwest in 1951 with the New York Wood- As the quintet began concertizing more regularly after 1954,
wind Quintet, the New York Brass Ensemble disbanded in the they began networking with composers and other musicians,
early 1950s.9 Robert Nagel, an early member of the New York and gradually began the task of finding a viable repertoire. The
Brass Ensemble, sought out four other brass players and offi- repertoire they had initially included early music transcriptions
cially formed the New York Brass Quintet. The New York and the few pieces that had been written and discovered prior
Brass Quintet gave its first official concert at Town Hall in to the group’s formation, such as the quintets written by Vic-
New York City on June 11, 1954.
6 ITG Journal / January 2011 © 2011 International Trumpet Guild
tor Ewald, Eugene Bozza, and Ingolf Dahl.11 It was up to them Brass Quintet and Diptych for Brass Quintet and Band (or
to find a repertoire for themselves. Other brass quintets Orchestra), and Vincent Persichetti’s Parable for Brass Quintet
around this time, such as the American Brass Quintet, were are examples. Both of Schuller’s commissions were paid using
doing the same thing. Bob Heinrich, who started playing grant funds, as it was the Elizabeth Coolidge Sprague Founda-
trumpet with the American Brass Quintet in 1960, and then tion that paid for Music for Brass Quintet, and the sponsorship
was with the New York Brass Quintet from 1963 – 1965, said of the Cornell University Music Department that paid for
of his time with the American Brass Diptych for Brass Quintet and Band (or Orchestra).
Quintet, “In looking for literature, Persichetti’s Parable for Brass
we just had transcriptions, [and we “The New York Brass Quintet found Quintet has an interesting story. It
thought] there might be an opportu- was paid for using a gift from the
nity to get composers interested.
they had a common goal with Currier family, a wealthy family for
With the American Brass Quintet, it contemporary composers; both whom the quintet had performed
was a major initiative of the mem- private birthday parties through
bers to pool our finances and get were trying to find an audience.” their connection with Columbia
composers [to write for us]. When I Artists. The Currier parents went
arrived on the scene with New York, things were rolling along missing after their plane mysteriously disappeared over the
in that direction already. They had additional years of experi- Bermuda Triangle.18 The Currier family enlisted the New York
ence behind them already, and they were more noticed. Com- Brass Quintet to perform at the funeral, and instead of being
posers had already been at work writing compositions.” 12 compensated for playing, it was agreed that they would offer a
The New York Brass Quintet found they had a common monetary gift for a commission.
goal with contemporary composers: both were trying to find In trying to decide who to commission with the Currier
an audience. According to John Swallow, “At the time the family gift, they began searching out the best composers of the
NYBQ was working towards recognition there were many com- time period. According to Allan Dean, “Nagel went to every-
posers who were likewise looking for an audience.”13 “At first body. He knew Stravinsky, Barber, Copland, [and] Bernstein,
we asked our friends and associates to write for us, like Gun- I mean… he played first trumpet for these guys on recordings
ther Schuller, whom we’d known from the Metropolitan for years and knew them pretty well. And, nobody was the
Opera Orchestra, and Vincent Persichetti, who was a friend least bit interested. When push comes to shove I think that
and teacher of Bob Nagel’s. Harvey Phillips was always a driv- was not enough money for those composers.19 [It] was about
ing force in this area during the 12 or 13 years he was in the the time that Stravinsky was getting $10,000 for writing the
14
group. He convinced Alec Wilder to compose two quintets two-trumpet fanfare for Lincoln Center. Bob directly contact-
for us. Although we were always on the lookout, we were just ed Persichetti, whom he knew well and commissioned him to
finding our way. The word ‘grantsmanship’ wasn’t even in our write Parable for Brass Quintet.” 20
vocabulary yet.”15 Over the course of finding a repertoire, the New York Brass
According to Allan Dean, long time trumpet player of the Quintet received many more pieces from composers than they
New York Brass Quintet from 1966 – 1984, “there certainly were able to rehearse and premiere. The quintet had over
wasn’t much out there, but when the quintet started to go out 1,000 pieces in their library by the end of their tenure,21 but
and play in these places, then pieces by college composers they only actively performed just over 280 different pieces.
started to appear. Collier Jones’s [Four Movements for Five Many of those pieces in their library have never been per-
Brass] was supposedly… written for the group. Arthur Harris formed. Allan Dean, who also played trumpet briefly with the
wrote a decent piece, Four Moods for Brass Quintet, that they American Brass Quintet from 1964 – 1965 and then joined
played in the early years quite a bit. Pieces like that came the New York Brass Quintet in 1966, contrasts the New York
along, [and] were just volunteered, and they came along Brass Quintet method of building a repertoire with the Amer-
because it was the first group. It wasn’t really a commissioning ican Brass Quintet’s method saying, “So, it was a very differ-
thing, but they would say to composers, ‘Oh, you want to ent approach, because the repertoire just kind of accumulated,
write a piece, that’d be great.’”16 I would say. And then by the time the group quit, say the last
By 1958, the two goals the New York Brass Quintet estab- five or ten years, there were still new pieces that showed up on
lished were to “develop an audience for brass quintet music the doorstep. But, it was a completely different approach than
through concertizing… and to increase the repertoire for the what the ABQ was doing. When I was in the ABQ we didn’t have
ensemble.”17 With the exception of a couple of years, the first any money but composers like Charles Whittenburg, I’m sure,
ten years of the quintet’s activity, from 1954 – 1964, saw an just wrote for the group. [With the New York Brass Quintet]
increase in their repertoire by at least ten or more new pieces there may have been a few grants, but nobody was really into
per year. Additionally, the quintet gave the largest number of writing grants and figuring that out yet.”22
premieres between 1960 – 1965. While the early years 1954 – 1964 saw the most prolific and
The New York Brass Quintet was responsible for directly or consistent years of repertoire building, a second flowering of
indirectly commissioning, and then subsequently premiering repertoire came between the years 1970 – 1975. By this time,
at least a dozen pieces over the tenure of their career. They are they had been active for sixteen years and had made a name for
credited with premiering over forty pieces, and commissioning themselves. During this time they added at least eleven or
almost twenty. These numbers do not include the many gifts more pieces to their repertoire every year. It was also at this
composers sent them, as most of the music they added to their time that the Georgia State University Brass Symposium was
repertoire was volunteered pieces. They paid for only a small having a large influence on the world of brass quintet reper-
handful of commissions, of which Gunther Schuller’s Music for toire. This annual symposium presented new works for brass

© 2011 International Trumpet Guild January 2011 / ITG Journal 7

quintet over a three-day period, and the NYBQ was involved When they left CAMI before the start of the 1978 – 1979 sea-
almost every year from 1966 to 1975. During the symposium, son, they saw their total number of performances decline sig-
students prepared and played the music by the composers and nificantly, and by the fall of 1979, they were performing less
the job of the quintet was to pick the than half as many concerts as they had just
winning composition. Then, the quin- two seasons earlier. They had residencies at
tet played a full-length recital on the “…within the short span of the Manhattan School of Music and the
last day, featuring the winning compo- about fifteen years, market Hartt School at that time, which sustained
sition from the previous year.23 them for a few years while they tried to secure
An important relationship in the his- tastes in the United States new management. According to Allan Dean,
tory of the New York Brass Quintet
was with their management, Columbia
changed dramatically…” “We had no management. We went to a cou-
ple other managements in New York where
Artists Management Incorporated we knew some people, and they really weren’t
(CAMI). They were with CAMI for almost twenty years, from interested. We didn’t come up with anybody that [had] any
1959 until 1978. CAMI provided the quintet with a much interest in a brass quintet.”28 Between 1980 and 1984, they
wider national exposure, as evidenced by the total number of only performed a handful of concerts each season. During the
performances given by year. But, it was CAMI’s influence on the last five years after they left CAMI, their efforts to build a reper-
repertoire that is most noteworthy. According to John Swallow, toire, commission pieces, and present world premieres had all
“they were the most concerned, at the time we joined them, but vanished, except for the occasional piece that still
that we only perform music written specifically for brass quin- “appeared on the doorstep.”
tet and this governed our programming to a great
extent.”24 Performing the Repertoire
So, while CAMI influenced their programming early on, and The New York Brass Quintet performed more than 280 dif-
helped the quintet achieve success through concertizing, it was ferent pieces during their 34-year career, of which only about
also partly the relationship with CAMI that ultimately ended twenty to thirty were “standards” that they performed with
the career of the New York Brass Quintet. CAMI’s big push for great frequency. During their peak years,29 they were perform-
the quintet was “community concerts,” which initially were an ing between thirty and sixty concerts a year to audiences all
acceptable venue to program the regular repertoire of the New across the United States and Europe. In 34 years, the NYBQ
York Brass Quintet. But, within the short span of about fifteen gave over 700 performances, not including the several hundred
years, market tastes in the United States unknown children’s concerts in the
changed dramatically, and suddenly the early years.
same management that was concerned with “In 34 years, the NYBQ gave The performing career of the New
the brass quintet not having enough “seri- York Brass Quintet can basically be
ous” repertoire, was demanding the quintet
over 700 performances…” divided into three periods: the early
to play lighter programs, especially on their career from 1954 – 1964 (which in -
community concerts. The Canadian Brass, formed in 1970, cludes their first few years under Columbia Artists), the mid-
was taking advantage of the shift in market tastes and was pro- dle career from 1965 – 1978 (their peak years of performing),
gramming lighter programs. The Canadian Brass had tapped and their late career from 1979 – 1988 (which begins during
into a successful model as an entertainment group, and CAMI their first year without Columbia Artists, until the final Robert
wanted the New York Brass Quintet to do the same thing. Nagel retirement concert). The early career shows the most
According to John Swallow, “By this time the commercial- consistent activity in terms of repertoire building. The middle
ization of the idiom, which ironically enough was sparked by career shows the most consistent activity in terms of perform-
CAMI, had gotten to the point that there was less and less inter- ance, and the late career shows a gradual decrease in activity in
est in serious writing for brass quintet.”25 Allan Dean echoes all areas as the career of the quintet wound down.
this saying, “Canadian had come on the scene, they’d [CAMI]
taken them on as an entertainment group, and they kept say- Early Career 1954 – 1963
ing, ‘You have to play lighter programs, we can’t sell the pro- Their early period saw the rapid expansion of their reper-
gram you’re playing.’ And it got to the point one year where toire. Some of the more prominent pieces included the follow-
CAMI kept saying, ‘I love you guys, and you’re great, but the ing: Impressions of a Parade by Samuel Baron, Suite for Brass
audiences are changing. We’re not getting good response; it’s Quartet and Piano by Robert Nagel, Music for Brass Quintet by
too heavy.’ It got to the point that we were the serious group Gunther Schuller, Canzona Prima a 5 by Giovanni Gabrieli,
on every community concert series we played, and when we Quintet, op. 73 by Malcolm Arnold, Four Moods for Brass
started, we were considered less serious than the other attrac- Quintet by Arthur Harris, Four Movements for Five Brass by
tions. So, it got to the extreme, and what broke the camel’s Collier Jones, and Music for Brass Instruments by Alvin Etler.
back with community concerts was, one year26 we said, ‘Okay, There were a few pieces in particular that they had in the
we’re gonna show ’em.’ And we played a whole concert of repertoire in their early career, but didn’t perform much dur-
encores, all pops, and of course it was a huge success. It was ing that time. These included the Trio by Frances Poulenc,
already kind of what Canadian was doing and as soon as we Suite (later, selected pieces from it titled Three Pieces) by Alec
discovered that that [was] a success, we said, ‘We don’t want Wilder, Little Brass Music by Gunther Schuller, and the afore-
to do this anymore.’ And essentially, Columbia was not that mentioned Music for Brass Instruments by Alvin Etler. It was
interested in us anymore. You know, so, that kind of ended later in their career that these pieces became more of a staple
that.”27 of their repertoire, but they had performed the Poulenc as

8 ITG Journal / January 2011 © 2011 International Trumpet Guild

early as 1956, the Wilder as early as 1960, the Schuller in
1961, and Etler as early as 1963.
A typical program trend that developed from the early peri-
od featured a first half that was heavy on early music and a sec-
ond half that was mainly music from the 20th century. Initial-
ly they did not have standardized programs, and while there
were some programming trends to note, most of the concerts
were very different. However, they opened the vast majority of
their concerts during this time with the Suite from “Hora Dec-
ima” by Johann Pezel.

“A typical program trend that developed

from the early period featured a first half
that was heavy on early music, and a sec-
ond half that was mainly music from the
20th century.”
They typically filled out the rest of the first half of their con-
certs with more early music by Gabrieli and J.S. Bach, and
sometimes Ewald’s quintet or pieces by Ludwig Maurer. The
second half usually featured Impressions of a Parade by Samuel
Baron and sometimes Victor Ewald’s quintet. They began pro-
gramming Eugene Bozza’s Sonatine as the program closer in
1958, and this piece would end up being the one piece they
performed and closed programs with more often than any
other.30
Their programming trends started to become more stan-
dardized starting in 1960, about the same time that their rela-
tionship with CAMI began. Prior to this, they were free to pro-
gram whatever they wanted, but when they started with CAMI,
they had to follow a system where ensembles submitted only
one program for the community concert season, and the
ensemble would play the same program for every community
concert that year, which meant that a smaller number of pieces Figure 2
received frequent, repeat performances year after year.
While Johann Pezel’s suite opened the majority of concerts Middle Career 1964 – 1978
during this period, by the time they joined CAMI this trend was By 1964 they were performing much more frequently, and
replaced with Three Pieces by Anthony Holborne. Works such this peak number of performances each year is what defined
as Ewald’s quintet and Contrapunctus IX by J.S. Bach contin- the middle period. It was their work in commissioning and
ued to appear on the first half of concerts, while pieces like premiering during the early period of their career that finally
Four Moods for Brass Quintet by Arthur Harris, Suite for Brass paid off, as it allowed them to draw upon over 100 pieces in
Quartet and Piano by Robert Nagel, and Malcolm Arnold’s their regular repertoire by 1965. From 1963 to 1969, during
quintet began filling out the rest of the first half. The second the first part of their middle period, they used almost an iden-
half of these programs usually featured Gunther Schuller’s tical program for their community concerts every year. They
Music for Brass Quintet and Eugene Bozza’s Sonatine. These performed at least fifty community concerts during this time
two pieces were typically surrounded by pieces written by Alec span, and Figure 3 is an example of a season program from the
Wilder, Ludwig Maurer, and Samuel Baron as well as Collier 1967 – 1968 concert season, which is representative of many
Jones’s Four Movements for Five Brass. of their programs during this time.32
While the first official concert was given by the quintet on This kind of programming for community concerts, which
June 11, 1954, at Town Hall in New York City, their first, featured more conservative writing, was contrasted by the “col-
substantial, full recital debut came much later, on November lege concerts” that they performed. While CAMI had them sub-
14, 1961, again at Town Hall. On their recital debut in 1954
mit one program for community concerts, they were free to
they performed a program consisting entirely of early music,
program whatever they chose for the college concert dates
including: Dances by Johann Pezel, Three Pieces by Anthony
throughout the year. According to Allan Dean, “We basically
Holborne, Music for Queen Mary by Henry Purcell, and Can-
played two kinds of programs. We had the community con-
zona No. 2 by Giovanni Gabrieli. But in 1961, they performed
certs for Columbia Artists who had a complete monopoly on
the program seen in Figure 2, which was representative of the
community concerts in those days. So, three-fourths of the
trends of many of their programs at the time.31
concerts we played were community concerts I’d say. We’d go
© 2011 International Trumpet Guild January 2011 / ITG Journal 9
 from composers such as] Arnold, Bozza, Ewald, and a
lot of early music.”33
Their college concerts typically featured a first half of
early music, using Daniel Speer’s Sonata from Die
Bankelsangerlieder or Josquin des Prez’s Royal Fanfare to
open the programs, followed by music of Gabrieli, Hol-
borne, Pezel, or Bach, and usually John Glasel’s edited
16th Century Carmina. This was similar programming
to their early period. The second half of the programs
usually opened with Robert Nagel’s Suite for Brass
Quartet and Piano, followed by a mix of pieces. It could
include Collier Jones’s Four Movements for Five Brass,
Alvin Etler’s Music for Brass Instruments, Gunther
Schuller’s Music for Brass Quintet, and later Vincent
Persichetti’s Parable for Brass Quintet. All of these pieces
were considered “heavy” pieces and would not be found
on community concert programs. The college concerts
typically ended with Eugene Bozza’s Sonatine or Morley
Calvert’s Suite from the Monteregian Hills. So, in reality,
the college concert programs and community concert
programs, followed similar programming conventions,
Figure 3 just with different pieces in the various programming
slots.
on a two-week tour, and we’d play, if we were lucky, two col- It was also during this time, that the quintet’s increase in
leges and eight or nine or ten community concerts, because repertoire saw the least amount of development. Between the
that’s [how] Columbia made their money. They didn’t really years 1964 and 1969, their repertoire growth almost appeared
care much about booking college concerts [and of ] course to stagnate, with the exception of 1968. However, despite the
that’s what we wanted to play. But, the community thing paid slow growth, some of the few pieces that did enter the reper-
good, decent money and we went out and played a lot of those. toire during this time ended up being some of the most impor-
Mostly the good dates were the college dates. So, obviously, for tant pieces. Pieces like Morley Calvert’s Suite from the Mon-
community concerts you couldn’t play any [pieces from com- teregian Hills entered the repertoire in 1964 and this piece was
posers like] Etler, Schuller, Jan Bach, Persichetti, Richard programmed over and over, frequently as a program closer.
Rodney Bennett, and Haines. But, you could play [pieces Josquin des Prez’s Royal Fanfare
appeared in 1965, Johann Pezel’s
Sonata no. 22 emerged in 1966, as
well as different pieces from Maur-
er’s 12 Kleinen stücke für bläserquin-
tett and other Contrapuncti from
Bach’s Art of the Fugue. Vincent
Persichetti’s Parable for Brass Quin-
tet, which was mentioned earlier,
entered the repertoire in 1968. The
Sonata for Brass Quintet by Ed -
mund Haines, which was written
for the quintet and premiered in
1968, saw frequent performances
for several years after the premiere.
Perhaps the reason the repertoire
building sees a bit of a decline dur-
ing this part of their career, was
because the brass quintet genre was
gaining steam and, more and more
quintets were being formed and
getting involved with developing
repertoire too.
However, later on in their middle
period there was a second large ex-
pansion in their repertoire. Despite
their own level of involvement in
The New York Brass Quintet (1967) premieres and commissions seeing a
L – R: Robert Nagel, Allan Dean, Thompson Hanks, John Swallow, Paul Ingraham steady decline through the middle

10 ITG Journal / January 2011 © 2011 International Trumpet Guild

period, their repertoire, between the years 1970 and 1975, last three seasons with them, and all three were almost identi-
grew at an almost equal pace as it did in the early period from cal. They featured a mix of original compositions that were
1958 to 1963. Some of the pieces that received more promi- more conservative, as well as arrangements of classical and
nent programming that were added during the second half of romantic era pieces and popular music of the day. Figure 4 is
the middle period include: Par Monts et Par Vaux by Michel an example of one of their Pops Night programs from the
Leclerc, Canzona Bergamasca by Samuel Scheidt, Quartet No. 1976 – 1977 concert season.36
4 by Wilhelm Ramsöe, Three Madrigals by Don Carlo Gesu- Their college concert programs during this time began fea-
aldo, Centone (a mixture of early music pieces arranged by turing a more diverse repertoire. A small handful of new pieces
Verne Reynolds) by Johann Fux, Trio by Jean Louel, Newark appeared during the last few years of their middle period. In
Siege by John Jenkins (transcribed by David Baldwin), Trois 1974 the brass quintet by Thomas Frederickson began appear-
Chansons by Claude Debussy (transcribed by Kenneth Single-
ing on several programs. It was used in the same programming
ton), Laudes by Jan Bach, and a couple of transcriptions by
slots as the Etler or Schuller on the second half of many of
Robert Nagel: Suite by Arcangelo Corelli and Chorale Prelude
by J.S. Bach. They were discovering and programming many their programs. In 1975, the Suite for Brass by Stanley Weiner
more early music pieces in addition to new pieces from com- began appearing on community concerts. In 1976 Dance Suite
posers like Leclerc and Jan Bach. by Michael Praetorius (arranged by Allan Dean) received fre-
Their programming trends in the latter half of the middle quent performances as did Commedia IV by Richard Rodney
period still basically followed the same model as before, only Bennett. Hans Werner Henze’s Fragments “Aus Einer Show” for
with different pieces plugged into the various slots. On college brass quintet also appeared in 1976. They began performing
concerts, sometimes trios like the Louel replaced Nagel’s some of Victor Ewald’s other brass quintets at this time as well.
Quartet, and early music like Canzona Bergamasca replaced the
music of Speer and Josquin as openers. The community con-
certs used the same early music pieces as the college concerts,
but other works such as Pierre Dubois’s Le Cinema Muet
(Silent Movie) and Arthur Frackenpohl’s Popular Suite started
appearing on the second half of community concert programs.
By 1973, they began submitting two community concert
programs. One was a little more substantial, although still con-
taining fewer “heavy” pieces than their college concert pro-
grams, and the other was a little bit lighter featuring more
arrangements, early music, and conservative pieces. This trend
of having three basic program types34 eventually evolved into
the “Pops” program that was mentioned earlier. In 1976, they
began submitting a regular community concert program and a
special “Pops Night” community concert program. This mar-
keting shift and difference in audience tastes was commented
on by John Swallow, “To go chronologically backwards, it
wasn’t hard to put together audience pleasers for Columbia’s
Community Concerts Pops program but we found it difficult
to retain our enthusiasm for the music over an extended peri-
od of time.”35 As was mentioned previously, their relationship
with CAMI ended prior to fall of 1978. So, they had submitted
a total of only three “Pops Night” programs to CAMI for their

Figure 4 Figure 5
© 2011 International Trumpet Guild January 2011 / ITG Journal 11
 Late Career 1978 – 1988 main repertoire, as these were also frequently performed and
Their late career began in the fall of 1978, their first season rotated in and out of the repertoire around the other six. What
without CAMI. They had another European tour in the fall of follows is a more detailed evaluation of each of the six core
1978, but then did no performing to speak of until the follow- pieces, as well as a listing of the remaining nineteen for a total
ing fall of 1979. There were no significant repertoire additions list of the “Twenty-five Most Performed Pieces.”43 The one
to speak of during their late period, and they did no commis- piece that tops the list as being the most performed was
sions or premieres, with the exception of one at the Manhat- Sonatine by Eugene Bozza.
tan Brass Symposium in 1982 (Ritornelli, Opus 100, No. 2 by
Alan Hoddinot), and one at the Robert Nagel retirement con- Sonatine by Eugene Bozza
cert in 1988 (Three Fanfares by Joan Panetti). As was mentioned previously, Sonatine entered the reper-
During the late period their programming trends changed toire in 1958. It was frequently programmed as the closer, but
significantly. During their peak performing years with CAMI it was known to appear in the middle of the program either to
their programs would have lasted two hours in length, featur- close the first half, or open the second later in their career.44
ing an early music first half and a mix of 20th-century pieces They used this piece both on college concerts and community
on the second half, usually featuring at least three full brass concerts with the same level of frequency. Interestingly
quintets.37 However, in the late period, the program length was enough, there is no evidence that the piece was ever pro-
shortened, and they played the same few pieces for most of grammed to open a concert by the New York Brass Quintet.
their concerts each year. Figure 5 is an example of a program John Swallow claimed that the Bozza was “very successful”
from this period. with audiences, and must be the reason it was programmed so
frequently. Allan Dean provides even more insight as to why
Evaluating the Repertoire pieces like the Bozza were programmed frequently by saying,
Quintet Criteria “Flashy pieces with lots of tonguing and fast notes worked well
Robert Nagel established three criteria for programming. “1) with the audience. For the community concerts you wanted
The quintet members must be interested in the music for per- people to come back, so we never tried to cram one of our
formance. 2) A piece must be one which, because of its worth, heavier pieces down their throats.”45
deserves to be heard. 3) It must be compatible with the other In looking at the concert reviews that describe the Bozza,
works on the program, and achieve good balance stylistical- they were overwhelmingly positive. Occasionally the piece was
ly.”38 In addition, Robert Nagel mentions several aspects that criticized for not being substantial enough, but more often
were considered when making programming choices, “There than not it was reviewed favorably. It was described by a num-
were quite a few factors. Mainly, to keep the audience’s inter- ber of different reviewers:
est through variety of style, form, and content between the var-
ious works. I liked to think of a concert program as one big “The Bozza Sonatine is a virtuoso piece (it con-
multi-movement work, inter-related and cohesive overall. Then tained brass glissando), cheerful, if rather superficial
there are matters, such as two successive pieces may be too sim- music in the Parisian manner, brilliantly scored and
ilar, or too dissimilar. They must complement each other.”39 certainly entertaining.”
—The Gazette (Montreal), December, 1960.
“We didn’t get bad reviews. Reviews and “…to the fitting climax of the evening, Sonatine by
audience response did not generally war- Eugene Bozza. This composition taxes every technical
and musical aspect of brass performance. The New
rant programming changes.” York Brass Quintet handled the piece with such
—Robert Nagel finesse and flawless technique that it left the audience
demanding encores.”
—Van Wert, Ohio Times-Bulletin,
In describing the repertoire and audiences, Robert Nagel March 5, 1964
said, “Most of our repertoire was well-received because the
music was new to audiences, and brass quintet music was an “Eugene Bozza’s Sonatine is competent, smoothly
interesting novelty. Music not well-received was works that written, completely unmemorable music, but un-
were too modern. [We] had better receptions in larger commu- doubtedly grateful to play, since it is played so much.”
nities and in college towns. [However], performance location —Nashville Tennessean, February 24, 1970
had a quite minor influence on repertoire choice.”40 When
asked how concert reviews impacted repertoire choices, partic- “Particularly effective was the Sonatine by Bozza.”
ularly any bad reviews, Robert Nagel responded saying, “We —Times Union, Albany, New York,
didn’t get bad reviews. Reviews and audience response did not
October 25, 1971
generally warrant programming changes.”41
Quintet, op. 73 by Malcolm Arnold
The Music
According to John Swallow, “Malcom Arnold’s Quintet was
There were roughly six pieces that make up the core reper-
very successful with audiences generally,”46 and it must have
toire of the New York Brass Quintet, because those particular
been with the quintet as well, since it was programmed quite
six pieces received an overwhelming number of repeat per-
frequently. This piece was written for and premiered by the
formances,42 and then nineteen more make up the rest of the
quintet in 1961, and it remained a mainstay of the repertoire
12 ITG Journal / January 2011 © 2011 International Trumpet Guild
to the very end. This piece is one of the most performed brass “Gunther Schuller was the most impressive con-
quintets to this day.47 It received overwhelmingly positive temporary man of the three heard during the evening.
reviews, and like the Bozza, its conservatism was sometimes Its three movements open with a section whose con-
criticized, examples being: siderable contrapuntal interest is almost outweighed
by the fascinating sonorities and novel half-tones he
“Malcolm Arnold’s Quintet, Op. 73, played for the draws from the instruments. …is a composer of lim-
first time in public, was conservative, melodious, and itless imagination whose determined approach is
well written in its display of the resources of this bringing forth new music of distinction and great
medium, while not particularly distinctive.” promise. Here was one of the highpoints of the con-
—New York Herald Tribune, cert, made more impressive by marvelous playing.”
November 15, 1961 —Washington Post (from premiere),
January 14, 1961
“…the final work before intermission was the most
difficult of the program and also the most impressive. “Schuller’s work, in three movements, explored the
It was Malcolm Arnolds’s Quintet, op. 73, a 1961 coloristic potential to the full and it also displayed the
composition that is technically awesome, tonally col- composer’s talents for combining highly individualis-
orful and rhythmically alive. It has jazz overtones tic lines and employing tricky rhythms and accenting.
which our concertgoers evidently liked. They gave it The dynamic scheme, with violent crescendos, was
resounding applause.” also something!”
—Portland Evening Express, November 22, 1963 —New Haven Register, February 21, 1965

“The three-movement Arnold work begins with “Gunther Schuller’s Webernian Music for Brass
perky fugato passages, has a sonorous and impressive Quintet with its highly fragmented texture, made
Chaconne, and a finale that features some delectable enormous demands on the players which they met
fanfare figurations along with some popular music with entire success. Even so, it began to grow a bit
overtones (smears, muted trumpets, etc)—a delight- tedious in the third (slow) movement.”
ful piece.” —Nashville Tennessean, February 24, 1970
—Nashville Tennessean, February 24, 1970
“By far the most interesting piece of the evening
Music for Brass Quintet by Gunther Schuller was the Music for Brass Quintet by Gunther Schuller,
The New York Brass Quintet was a champion of Gunther another contemporary American. It was most diffi-
Schuller’s works, and this piece was one of the few paid com- cult to play, and to listen to. While it was not com-
missions they sought out. They also commissioned and pre- pletely atonal in the Schoenbergian Tone-Row sys-
miered his Diptych for Brass Quintet and Band (later re-scored tem, it stretched tonality to the breaking point. It was
for orchestra). They premiered Music for Brass Quintet in in many ways a canonization of Webern’s pointillism,
1961, and it remained as a core piece of the repertoire until a form of artistic expressionism plumbing the depths
1982. This piece was one of their “heavy” pieces, and it was of the psyche, only to find at the bottom Sigmund
rarely performed on Community Concerts. It received many Freud. Any group who can play it deserves a Medal of
mixed reviews as it was sometimes praised for its originality, Honor and a government pension.”
and other times criticized for its extended techniques and —Corpus Christi Caller April 14, 1973
atonal harmonies. According to John Swallow, “The Schuller
quintet [has] less general audience appeal, but [for] our more Contrapunctus IX by J.S. Bach
sophisticated college and chamber music circles [it] had both Contrapunctus IX from “The Art of the Fugue” by J.S. Bach
high audience and critical response. The more advanced pieces was another piece that was frequently programmed. In fact,
like Schuller, were often a ‘hard sell’ but they had such critical they programmed many of the different contrapuncti, and
acclaim and challenge for us that we programmed them as Contrapunctus I and Contrapunctus IV were the two others that
much as the traffic could allow.”48 It was almost always per- were programmed the most frequently after Contrapunctus IX.
formed on the second half of their concerts and was rarely used Contrapunctus IX entered the repertoire in 1959 and remained
to open or close the programs. But this piece was a mainstay of a core piece until the very end. If all the Contrapuncti were
the quintet, and today it’s nearly impossible to speak of the combined as one piece, they would easily top the list as being
piece without mentioning the New York Brass Quintet. Sam- the most performed over the Bozza. Contrapunctus I was first
ple reviews of the piece include: played by the quintet in 1962, and Contrapunctus IV was later
added in 1968, and both pieces were programmed until 1978,
“The piece is strongly influenced by post-Western after which they were used sparingly. These pieces, while typi-
trends, and apparently makes considerable use of seri- cally programmed in the middle of programs, were adaptable
al technique. Mr. Schuller is a horn player himself, is to almost any place on the program, and appeared with equal
a composer of skill and inventiveness, and his imagi- frequency on both community concerts and college concerts.
nation knows no limits in devising new and interest- Contrapunctus IX appeared as a concert opener, as a closer, and
ing brass sonorities. The new work is impressive even frequently as an encore. John Swallow commented, “The
indeed.” Bach fugues were very successful over all, especially number
—Unknown (from premiere), January 13, 1961 nine.”49 By and large they went over well with reviewers, with
© 2011 International Trumpet Guild January 2011 / ITG Journal 13
only a few rare exceptions, and were described in the following Suite for Brass Quartet and Piano by Robert Nagel
reviews: This piece featured the “triple threat,” as one reviewer men-
tioned, that is Robert Nagel. Nagel was a pianist and compos-
“Bach’s Contrapunctus by the four brass instru- er in addition to trumpet player and music director of the New
ments was among the most exciting things I have York Brass Quintet, and this piece shows off his other talents.
heard.” Written specifically for the members of the New York Brass
—The Gazette (Montreal), December 5, 1960 Quintet, the work featured solo movements for each instru-
ment. It served them well to introduce the audience to the vir-
“The only encore was also the most satisfying offer- tuosic capabilities of the brass instruments during their early
ing of the evening. Contrapunctus No. 9 from Bach’s years. This is the one piece that received consistent program-
Art of the Fugue was gloriously rendered by players ming from the beginning of their career in 1959 to the very
who betrayed none of the considerable fatigue they end. Even the pieces mentioned above had a few years go by
must, at that point, have fought against.” without a performance, but this piece was performed every
—Toledo Ohio, November 12, 1964 year of the quintet’s career. Representative reviews include:

“The other outstanding, truly superb selection was “One of the most effective works performed was
the first encore Contrapunctus IX from J.S. Bach’s Art the ‘Suite for Brass Quartet and Piano’ composed by
of the Fugue. The quintet turned this rendition into Robert Nagel, leader of the group… It was a welcome
a noble and majestic classic. The fugal structure was and marked contrast in the program.”
constantly predominant and never muddled. This —Portland Maine Press Herald,
was a supreme display of artistic possibility.” November 22, 1963
—The News-Times (New Milford, CT),
December 9, 1975 “After intermission, Nagel showed himself a gifted
composer and proficient pianist, as well as superb
Brass Quintet in B-flat minor, opus 5 by Victor Ewald trumpeter. His Suite for Brass Quartet and Piano
Victor Ewald’s Brass Quintet in B-flat minor, opus 5 was gave contrasting solos to each of the other four instru-
another staple of the repertoire. As was mentioned, it was writ- ments and a well-written Finale Concertante for all.
ten prior to the formation of the quintet and they first began The spirits of Shostakovich and Hindemith lurked
performing only the Finale in the first couple of years. They behind these attractive and effective pieces, and the
performance was virtuosic.”
began performing the piece in its entirety beginning in 1956,
—Nashville Tennessean, February 24, 1970
and it remained a core part of their repertoire until 1978. They
frequently programmed it on both college concerts and com-
The remaining pieces are listed in order of most performanc-
munity concerts, and in their late career, they programmed
es received:
Ewald’s 2nd and 3rd quintets often. It was mentioned by Allan
Three Pieces by Anthony Holborne
Dean, John Swallow, and Robert Nagel as being one of the Sonata from “Die Bankelsangerlieder” by Daniel Speer
most frequently performed quintets, and has historical signifi- Music for Brass Instruments by Alvin Etler
cance as being the model for the modern brass quintet. In gen- 16th Century Carmina by John Glasel (editor)
eral the first Ewald quintet had great audience appeal, but like Suite for Brass Instruments by Johann Pezel
the Bozza and Arnold, it was occasionally criticized by review- Canzona per Sonare 1 and 2 by Giovanni Gabrieli
ers for not being substantial enough. Typical reviews include: Trois Chansons by Claude Debussy
(transcribed by Singleton)
“They also came up with two rare nineteenth-cen- Suite from the Monteregian Hills by Morley Calvert
tury works for the medium… and a work by one Vic- Par Monts et Par Vaux by Michel Leclerc
tor Ewald, otherwise unidentified but author of a per- Four Movements for Five Brass by Collier Jones
fectly serious, competent ‘Quintet, Op. 5’, straight Selected Pieces from 12 Kleinen Stücke für bläser quintett
out of Dvorak.” by Ludwig Maurer
—New York, November 15, 1961 Little Brass Music by Gunther Schuller
Laudes by Jan Bach
“The Ewald is a very pleasing piece in romantic Sonata da Chiesa by Arcangelo Corelli
vein, with appealing melodies and rich harmony, (transcribed by Nagel)
sounding as if it had been written in the mid 19-cen- Impressions on a Parade by Samuel Baron
tury instead of early in this century.” Sonata No. 22 by Johann Pezel
—Nashville Tennessean, February 24, 1970 Canzona Prima a 5 by Giovanni Gabrieli
Chorale Prelude by J.S. Bach (transcribed by Nagel)
“A 19th-century brass quintet by Victor Ewald was Trio by François Poulenc
very pleasant romantic music, alternately lyrical and
dramatic, surely a historical rarity and an artistic General Audience Reaction
‘find.’ Only the somewhat bombastic finale was weak Based on the reviews above, it’s not difficult to see how
aesthetically.” mixed the audience reactions were to their repertoire. One
—Corpus Christi Caller, April 14, 1973 thing worth noting is that in almost every negative review, the
14 ITG Journal / January 2011 © 2011 International Trumpet Guild
reviewers only complained about the music itself, never about ers and other interested parties to seek out the best composers
the performers. For example, they performed a concert in and get the best music possible written for the brass quintet.
Carnegie Hall that featured only music by one composer, The reviews of the New York Brass Quintet prove this.
Morris Knight. The review was not favorable, and in it the Whether the reviewers said the music was not substantial
reviewer said, “The thematic ideas were seldom of much inter- enough, or criticized the serious music for being too taxing on
est, and their developments—considered from purely musical the audience, almost every reviewer commented on the high
standpoint—were undistinguished. The performances were level of virtuosity and music making by the performers in the
excellent throughout.”50 So, while the audiences didn’t neces- quintet. Other chamber ensembles have some of the greatest
sarily like all the music all the time, they were almost always composers of all time represented in their repertoire, and the
impressed with the playing of the ensemble. brass quintet can have an equally rich repertoire, as long as
composers continue to write for the genre.
“European audiences tended to be more About the author: Scott Hagarty is assistant professor of
receptive of the more contemporary trumpet and music theory at Del Mar College. Hagarty earned
the BME degree with a minor in jazz studies from the Univer-
works than the general American audi- sity of Northern Iowa, the MM degree in trumpet performance
ence.” —John Swallow from Yale University, and the DMA degree in trumpet perform-
ance with a secondary area in music theory from the Universi-
ty of Minnesota. His primary trumpet teachers have included
While their repertoire often received mixed reviews during Allan Dean, Gary Bordner, David Baldwin, and Randy Gra-
their US concerts, in general their reception in Europe was bowski.
much more positive. According to John Swallow, “European Hagarty is currently a member of the Victoria Symphony
audiences tended to be more receptive of the more contempo- (Texas). An avid supporter of chamber music, Hagarty is a
rary works than the general American audience.”51 During one founding member of the Corpus Christi Brass Quintet and
tour in particular, they received an overwhelmingly positive also performs with the Del Mar College Faculty Brass Trio. He
reception. According to Robert Nagel the Romanian audience is a versatile trumpet player, having performed in classical,
in Bucharest was “the most enthusiastic audience we have ever jazz, and early music styles on both the modern trumpet and
played for anywhere. We received twelve lengthy curtain calls the Renaissance cornetto.
with a continuous standing ovation, and we played three
encores.”52 They played Bucharest a second time, and “word Endnotes
had gotten around.” The house was sold out and they had to 1 Panel Discussion, video recording of Brass Chamber
turn people away. They took two to three bows between Music Forum at Appalachian State University, October
pieces, received sixteen curtain calls, and played four encores, 21, 2004.
including the Tijuana Brass Medley which virtually brought the 2 Correspondence with Robert Nagel, October 12, 2007.
house down. 3 MSS 74 The New York Brass Quintet Papers in the Irving
S. Gilmore Music Library of Yale University.
Conclusion 4 Panel Discussion, “Brass Quintet History.” Video
The repertoire of the New York Brass Quintet is important, Recording of Brass Chamber Music Forum at Appalach-
because as the first serious brass quintet in the United States, ian State University, October 21, 2004.
their programming models and repertoire choices would 5 Ibid.
become the standard of many quintets that followed. The lega- 6 Ibid.
cy they leave behind is a vast library of music, much of it still 7 Ibid.
unexplored in the Yale Music Library Archives. Their pro- 8 William Jones, “The Brass Quintet: An Historical and
gramming trends have been imitated by countless brass quin- Stylistic Survey.” DMA Thesis, University of Kentucky,
tets. Based on the evaluations of audiences and quintet mem- 1998.
bers, brass chamber music is now a viable form of artistic 9 Liner Notes, “Romantic Age Brass.” New York Brass
expression for composers and brass musicians alike. Thanks to Quintet CD Recording, Mentor Music, 2007.
the efforts of the New York Brass Quintet, brass quintets today 10 Email Interview with John Swallow, July 25, 2007.
have a standard, serious repertoire on which to build success- 11 MSS 74, The New York Brass Quintet Papers in the
ful careers as chamber musicians. Irving S. Gilmore Music Library at Yale University.
12 Bob Heinrich Interview, video recording of Brass Cham-
ber Music Forum at Appalachian State University, Octo-
“Thanks to the efforts of the New York Brass ber 21, 2004.
Quintet, brass quintets today have a stan- 13 Email Interview with John Swallow.
14 Harvey Phillips was in the group from 1954 to 1966.
dard, serious repertoire on which to build Thompson Hanks took over on tuba from 1967 – 1984.
successful careers as chamber musicians.” 15 Transcript of Ray Mase interviewing John Swallow,
undated, MSS 74, The New York Brass Quintet Papers in
the Irving S. Gilmore Music Library at Yale University.
As was mentioned at the beginning of this article, if brass
16 Phone Interview with Allan Dean, July 25, 2007.
quintets are to have continued success, it is up to the perform-
17 William Jones, “The Founding of the New York Brass
© 2011 International Trumpet Guild January 2011 / ITG Journal 15
 Quintet and American Brass Quintet.” Brass Chamber 33 Phone Interview with Allan Dean.
Music Forum Program Book, Appalachian State Univer- 34 Two community concerts programs and one “sort of”
sity, October 21, 2004. template for college concerts
18 Phone Interview with Allan Dean. 35 Email Interview with John Swallow.
19 The amount they paid Persichetti for this commission was 36 MSS 74 The New York Brass Quintet Papers.
$1,200, in 1968. If one were to factor in inflation, that 37 Ibid.
commission price would be equivalent to a $7,203 com- 38 Letter Interview with Robert Nagel.
mission in 2006. They had commissioned a 9 – 13 minute 39 Ibid.
piece, and in today’s commissioning market, they would 40 Ibid.
expect to pay more than that, at least $10,000 from an 41 Ibid.
average composer, more for a well known one. In short, 42 Based on the analysis, when comparing these six to the
they likely didn’t have enough money to seek out “big remaining pieces in the repertoire, they each received
name” composers such as Copland, Stravinsky or Bern- nearly twice as many performances as any other piece.
stein at the time. 43 The pieces selected from the other 19 were those pieces
20 Phone Interview with Allan Dean. commonly mentioned by Robert Nagel, Allan Dean, and
21 All of which are housed in the New York Brass Quintet John Swallow that weren’t one of the “core six” when
Papers collection at the Gilmore Music Library at Yale asked, “What were some of the pieces you programmed
University. the most often and why?” and that were also shown in the
22 Phone Interview with Allan Dean. analysis of the archive to have been performed frequently.
23 MSS 74, The New York Brass Quintet Papers. 44 MSS 74 The New York Brass Quintet Papers.
24 Email Interview with John Swallow. 45 Phone Interview with Allan Dean.
25 Ibid. 46 Ibid.
26 The “Pops” series concerts first appeared as an official 47 William Jones, “The Brass Quintet: An Historical and
program option for community concert sites during the Stylistic Survey.” DMA thesis, University of Kentucky,
1976 – 1977 concert season, two years before their rel- 1998.
ationship with CAMI ended. 48 Email Interview with John Swallow.
27 Phone Interview with Allan Dean. 49 Ibid.
28 Ibid. 50 MSS74 The New York Brass Quintet Papers.
29 Their peak performing years were between 1965 and 51 Email Interview with John Swallow.
1978. 52 Robert Nagel’s Report of European Tour, MSS 74, The
30 MSS 74 The New York Brass Quintet Papers. New York Brass Quintet Papers in the Irving S. Gilmore
31 Ibid. Music Library of Yale University
32 Ibid.

16 ITG Journal / January 2011 © 2011 International Trumpet Guild