What happens when a machine tries its hand at composing a brass quintet? What If A Clanker Composed a Brass Quintet? offers a tongue-in-cheek answer in a surprisingly dark and dramatic little work.

The opening A section begins with a dark, menacing ostinato shared by the flugelhorns and horn, swelling from piano to forte before receding. Against this ominous backdrop, the tuba introduces a threatening theme, answered a few measures later by the trombone in a strikingly high and almost ethereal response.

The contrasting B section thins the texture and provides a welcome change of mood without abandoning the work's minor-key character. Flugelhorn 1, horn, and flugelhorn 2 each introduce a brief musical motif, accompanied by a simple tuba trill, while the horn and trombone interact in a more intimate texture. The opening material then returns briefly, with the tuba theme now imitated by the trombone, leading to a short coda.

Two versions are included:

• Standard Version – written for the typical brass quintet configuration and featuring the more challenging original ranges.

• Developing Version – designed with developing players in mind, featuring flugelhorn parts that remain within a more comfortable playing range (and may also be performed on trumpet), while the horn and trombone parts are exchanged to ease the trombone range and limit the horn's highest note to written F.

The Standard Version parts also indicate where Developing Version parts may be substituted. For this option, the Horn and Trombone parts should be substituted as a pair.

Dark, dramatic, slightly unsettling—and just strange enough to make you wonder what the machine was thinking.

From the award-winning arranger of The Girl With The Flaxen Hair and Shake It Off.

Duration: approx. 1 minute 30 seconds

Level: Intermediate/Advanced intermediate