Ceremonial Fanfare

for trumpet, horn, and trombone

1973, rev. 2015

3 minutes

Available for purchase at Subito Music Distribution.

View a sample page of the score

Premiere: University of Illinois, May 7, 1973
Marvin Lamb, trumpet; Randall Shinn, horn; Phillip Brink, trombone

Composer Notes: I composed this unconventional fanfare as a virtuoso showpiece for myself and two of my composer/performer friends. Unlike fanfares announcing the arrival of dignitaries, this one seems to herald the arrival of unbridled fury. Bravura opening and closing sections surround a mysterious middle passage.

In the 1973 version this atonal, non-metric fanfare relied partly on proportional notation. In 2015 I revised it to use metric notation. From a listener’s perspective, the rhythmic feel of the work remains the same. But, as a composer, I prefer the precision of metric notation.