"Wild" Noms

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There are so many different types of brass chamber ensembles that can be put together, one of my personal favorites is the horn, tuba and piano ensemble.  There is a very unique sound when these instruments are combined, it's a very pleasant color to listen to.  There are quite a handful of pieces that are for this ensemble, one of them being Alec Wilder's Suite No. 1 for Horn, Tuba and Piano (1963).  This suite was written for Wilder's close friends, tuba player Harvey Phillips and on horn John Barrow.  What is special about this suite and the other suites that Alec Wilder wrote is that they were dedicated to family members of Harvey Phillips.  Phillips and Wilder viewed each other as family and were very close. 

Suite No. 1 for Horn, Tuba and Piano has some jazz influence to it like a lot of Wilder's compositions.  It's written in five movements: 
I. Maestoso 
II. Pesante 
III. In a Jazz Manner
IV. Berceuse 
V. Alla Caccia 

In my research I found a quote from Philip Lambert on the writing of Alec Wilder that I'd like to share with you.  Philip is Professor of Music at Baruch College and the Graduate Center of CUNY (City University of New York) and has also taught at Yale University and the Eastman School of Music.

"A few distinctive features can be expected to appear in essentially all of these works: long, flowing melodies with irregular phrasing; extensive repetition and development of a handful of simple musical ideas, within or among movements (or both); a strong presence of counterpoint, either free or in the form of a fugato or canon; moments of whimsy arising form playful rhythms or quirky juxtapositions or denials of expectations; and a strong sense of warmth and sincerity, a bare rawness of emotion and sentiment, as if transporting the close personal feelings between composer and performers out through the air to the audience."    - Philip Lambert 



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