PopMarket - Lloyd: A Miniature Triptych for Brass Quintet - Multicolor

A Miniature Triptych is scored for brass quintet, consisting of two trumpets, horn, tenor trombone and tuba and is cast in three movements. The first, entitled 'Lost', is slow, ruminative and bathed in half-lights, with enigmatic melodic and harmonic shifts and dramatic use of muted trumpet and flutter-tongue effects. Appropriately, the movement ends on a question mark. It is followed by the tense and edgy 'Searching' central movement. The overall mood here is anxious and turbulent, with frequent shifts in tempo. A tender lyrical phrase tries to break through the relentless, repeated-note fanfares. Eventually, the songlike phrase triumphs and the movement ends quietly in a spirit of cautious optimism. 'Found' begins with a sombre, recitative-like trombone soliloquy, but the movement's main section is buoyant and ultimately affirmative. When Lloyd was asked about the intriguing titles for each of the three movements, his characteristically whimsical, throwaway response was, 'Well, it's a general sort of human situation isn't it? We're always being lost and, hopefully, we're being found'. Yet, the scope and seriousness of the music suggests something more resonant and the listener might agree with Donald Johns in his review of the score, when he remarked that the piece, 'features good, solid craftsmanship, and plenty of display opportunities for each instrument in the ensemble', going on to observe that a 'successful performance would require a mature group of experienced players'.