Brass Quintet - Level 4 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.1489487

Composed by Dr. Daniel N. Thrower. 21st Century,Chamber,Classical,Historic,Multicultural,World. 28 pages. Https://gildedmusicpress.com/ #1066350. Published by https://gildedmusicpress.com/ (A0.1489487).

One of my last assignments as an Air Force musician before being stationed in Japan was to perform music in support of the 50th commemoration of what has become known in America as “Vietnam Memorial Day.”  It is observed on March 29 every year, the date when the last U.S. troops withdrew from Vietnam in 1973.  After the memorable ceremony in 2023, I lingered to talk with those mature veterans and to hear some of their experiences.  It was a strange feeling when I told them that my first assignment at my new duty station in Japan would be a series of cultural exchange performances in Vietnam.  What a somber generational bridge.

I was only in Japan for a matter of days, including some intense rehearsals, before Pacific Brass (the brass quintet from the U.S. Air Force Band of the Pacific) packed up and headed to Hanoi to start our brief musical outreach in three cities.  My reflections were sobering as I contrasted my military service in Vietnam with the veterans whom I had just honored three months prior.  During some off-duty time, all five of the Pacific Brass military musicians found our way to the well-known Hòa Ló Prison, infamously known as the “Hanoi Hilton.”  Indeed, how vastly different was my brief military service in Vietnam!

To the Vietnamese people, the “American War,” as they call it, is ancient history.  They are extremely forward-thinking, putting those dark years far from them, looking to the bright future that is theirs.  What an educational bridge of paradigms.  Although it was important for us as U.S. Servicemembers to witness the Hòa Ló Prison firsthand, our lot was to experience the beautiful present-day Vietnam with its rich culture of food, street shops, temples, dance, music, and other wonders that awed us all—including gongs!

Our trombone player purchased a gong in a shop that sold little else besides gongs of all sizes and pitches.  That struck me as quintessentially Vietnamese, and the sights and sounds of that modest shop lingered in my imagination.  As we absorbed the extraordinary majesty of the Temple of Literature in Hanoi, ideas for this musical composition started to formulate as a bridge connecting American musical culture with Vietnamese traditional gongs.  For practicality in both notation and live performance, I scored the consort of 18 glorious “gongs” in my head for orchestral tubular bells.  It is a passionate hope that someday in a video presentation, a masterful cultural bridge of the two diverse countries will be crafted.  Better yet, what an experience it would be to have a legitimate gong consort perform live with Pacific Brass!

The year of our visit, as we were coached many times by the Embassy’s Attaché, was a milestone landmark between the two nations, worthy of praise and celebration: the ten-year anniversary of the U.S.-Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership, signed by Presidents Obama and Sang in July 2013.  This bilateral relationship has bridged both nations’ commitment to economic engagement, cultural exchange, tourism, education, and human rights.  This composition is in celebration of this Comprehensive Partnership and a gift to the wonderful people of Vietnam.  May this music contribute to a continuing growth of positive relations bridging the two nations.

Brass Quintet - Level 5 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.1489495

Composed by Dr. Daniel N. Thrower. 21st Century,Chamber,Classical,Holiday,Patriotic. 52 pages. Https://gildedmusicpress.com/ #1066359. Published by https://gildedmusicpress.com/ (A0.1489495).

Being a bicentennial baby, born in 1976, my heart has always loved this wonderful nation.  In anticipation of the passing of 50 more years, with rousing celebrations sure to be planned and executed in every state of the Union, in every form of entertainment and festivity imaginable, this rousing patriotic composition is my heartfelt contribution.

The work is offered early to allow any performing quintet to acquire the music in plenty of time to work it up for concerts, recitals, ceremonies, and festivities of all kinds throughout the year.

The music itself elicits a wide range of emotions and images from throughout the two and a half centuries of America’s history.  In the compositional process, I certainly had my own images circulating through my mind.  It is encouraged that the performers tell their own story of America as they perform.  If technical means are available, a video presentation to accompany the music would be superb!

America’s 250th, Op. 142, for brass quintet was started 23 Aug 2022 and completed 11 Nov 2023 on Veterans Day in Pearl Harbor, having traveled that day on a plane from Tokyo full of Japanese.  Duration: 5:30.  Intended for performance during the entire 250th celebratory year in 2026.  Published in 2024 through Gilded Music Press, catalogue number GMP 3059.

Horn,Trombone,Trumpet,Tuba - Level 4 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.1158678

Composed by Dr. Daniel N. Thrower. 20th Century,Chamber,Classical,Historic. 30 pages. Https://gildedmusicpress.com/ #758696. Published by https://gildedmusicpress.com/ (A0.1158678).

The opening of this 4-minute piece is dance-like, intimating a celebratory mood up front—alone at first, but shared with the ensemble throughout the piece. After much celebration, the piece ends solemnly, as if giving each other final hugs and good-byes. Every Airman has a story to tell. “Farewell Celebration� is part of my story as an Airman musician. It is a fitting farewell to the Heartland of America Band stationed at Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, Nebraska, and to the entire American Midwest, as my family and I finalized our plans to uproot for an extraordinary three-year adventure in Asia. Work on this composition began toward the end of July and beginning of August 2021 as a melody with instructions to be the opening of a brass quintet piece, beginning with trumpet alone. It remained in that state until January 2022 when I entered this sketch into the computer to be worked on sporadically along with several other works in progress. When I contracted Covid-19 in July 2022, all of these works and other incipient pieces received attention, but this one more than most others. In the fall, I felt an urgency to complete it as a sentimental gesture of enthusiastic good-byes due to many life changes taking place. In particular, my fourth son, Paul, was departing for two years for Brazil. I was compelled to complete this work before he left on October 17, 2022, which I accomplished the day prior to his departure. In addition to Paul’s farewell, two co-workers with whom I had worked closely in the Air Force brass quintet called “Offutt Brass,� were also moving on with new exciting chapters in their lives. MSgt Ben Kadow, our fantastic trombonist, had received an assignment to move to Germany, leaving us on November 8. And MSgt Ryan Heseltine, our unparalleled French horn player, retired at the end of the year. On top of all that, in September I was given an assignment to move to Japan the following summer. Some farewells are more difficult to endure than others, though all seem to have varied brands of profound emotion. In contrast to saying good-bye to a loved one who passes away, all of these farewells were joyful, albeit poignant. “Farewell Celebration� is dedicated to my son Paul, to my outstanding professional colleagues, Ben Kadow and Ryan Heseltine, and to all our friends and family members who we left behind as we moved to Japan.

Horn,Trombone,Trumpet,Tuba - Level 3 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.1158398

Composed by Dr. Daniel N. Thrower. 20th Century,Chamber,Classical,Historic,Patriotic. 18 pages. Https://gildedmusicpress.com/ #758679. Published by https://gildedmusicpress.com/ (A0.1158398).

Composed to commemorate the 20th year of the 9-11 terrorist attacks. This somber, gorgeous piece of music draws tears when presented correctly, and is an extraordinarily important contribution to the brass quintet repertoire. The Jewish “feast� (or “appointed time�) of trumpets, as outlined in Leviticus 23:24-25, prescribes the observance: “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.� According to the Jewish calendar, the feast of trumpets in 2001 coincided exactly with the 9-11 attacks, which could indeed be thought of as “an offering made by fire.� Effectively no servile work was done on that day throughout the attacked nation, and it has indeed become a somber type of “sabbath� to observe every year. It seemed extraordinarily appropriate—perhaps even requisite—that a somber composition with trumpets be composed for the 20th annual observance of the horrific attacks on American soil, as a “Memorial� to those lost that day, and those who since perished in the Global War on Terror. “Where were you when you first heard about the 9-11 attacks?� This common question is posed to those who were of age to comprehend what had happened in 2001. Personally, I had just listened to an emotional rendition of Maurice Ravel’s “Pavane to a Dead Princess.� Elements of that musical memory influenced this present work “Memorial.� Other sources of inspiration—whether intended or subconscious—include Samuel Barber’s heart-wrenching “Adagio for Strings,� Michael Kamen’s “Quintet� for brass, and John Williams’ “Hymn to the Fallen.� The harmonies are thick and often dissonant, including many suspensions. The players get little rest, symbolic of the constant state of alertness of a shocked nation after being so brutally attacked. Perhaps of greatest symbolic import is the fact that there are exactly 911 notes in this composition. Because of this, it is crucial that the percussion part be performed, and that great care be taken by all performers to refrain from altering the notes or rhythms in any way. A comment on the interpretation of notation: all long notes that are tied to a staccato note on the downbeat are to be held to the downbeat and gently released, not held over.

Brass Quintet Horn,Trombone,Trumpet,Tuba - Level 3 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.1461113

Composed by Wilhelm Gabriel. Arranged by Will Corbin. Holiday,Traditional. 22 pages. Will Corbin #1040022. Published by Will Corbin (A0.1461113).

First: Yes, I know there's supposed to be an umlaut. It's a pain to track down on an English system, and the software didn't produce the umlaut A the way it was supposed to. Use your imagination.
If you've ever been to the Munich (Munchen, auch mit umlaut) Oktoberfest, this song is everywhere (as it is with most Oktoberfest celebrations everywhere). But it's always a part of the program at the Munich Hofbrauhaus.
The song was written in Berlin in 1935. Wilhelm Wiga Gabriel wrote other songs as well, mostly for the Nazis. So he's pretty much written out of history and his work appropriately relegated to the dustbin of the ages.
If you need alternative instrumentation, I'm happy to help. Contact me at wilcor@aol.com.