Brass Quintet - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1489511 Composed by Dr. Daniel N. Thrower. 21st Century,Chamber,Historic,Patriotic,Pop. 38 pages. Https://gildedmusicpress.com/ #1066374. Published by https://gildedmusicpress.com/ (A0.1489511). In 2022 the United States Air Force celebrated 75 years of air and space dominance since its creation in 1947.  The festivities and ceremonies surfaced throughout the nation all year.  This composition was crafted as one of those celebratory creations.  “Legacy of Valor” was originally composed for brass quintet and rock band, with two vocalists singing a stirring account of legacy handed down from one generation to another.  The lyrics are here:In my youth, I knew a manWho loved to talk about his history;Unfolded his mystery!He made me laugh about some things,And we cried about some others,And we prayed as we talked about his fallen brothers.As I grew, I though a lotAbout that man who told me stories—His woes and his glories.Something firm about his voiceInspired my skill to make a choice,To recall our defenders’ valiant sacrifice.As I wanted to be like this man,As I pondered and dreamedOf becoming what I can,I hoped to see the day, without delay,To defend, like my friend!When I took the oath,I remembered that man!How proud he would beOf his brand new Airman!I answered the call.I’ll give it my all!I will not falter!  I will not fail!I’m a guardian of the tradition of honor!Fly, fight, and win!When I hold my little boy,And think of freedoms he’ll enjoy,I ponder his destiny.Yes, it’s hard when I deploy!But distance cannot destroyWhat I love; what I fight so very hard to save!Generations come and go.I wish they all could knowHow it feels to serve America.The piece was difficult for the singers, but they practiced hard, and the USAF Heartland of America Band premiered it during an Independence Day concert tour in June and July 2022, including the grand patriotic concert at Mount Rushmore.A casual comment from one of the singers lingered: “You write for singers like they’re horns!”  It is true that most of my compositional experience is with brass instruments.  This double brass quintet instrumental rendition of “Legacy of Valor” is indeed a much more musically gratifying composition.  It is the way it was supposed to be all along!Released in 2023 for the 76th birthday of the Air Force, this work and its message are appropriate for any patriotic event, including joint performances between any two brass quintets, civilian or military, American or global.  Many stirring meanings can be communicated and celebrated through “Legacy of Valor”!

Brass Ensemble,Brass Quintet Horn,Trombone,Trumpet,Tuba - Level 3 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1136166 Composed by Lowell Mason (1792-1872). Arranged by Todd Marchand. Christian,Christmas,Holiday,Sacred,Traditional. Score and parts. 12 pages. Con Spirito Music #736195. Published by Con Spirito Music (A0.1136166). “Joy to the World� is, perhaps, the most widely performed Christmas carol, having appeared in nearly 1800 different hymnals since its initial publication, according to hymnary.org.The text was written by the prolific English hymn-writer Isaac Watts (1674-1748) as a paraphrase of Psalm 98 and published in his Psalms of David Imitated (1719) under the heading “The Messiah's Coming and Kingdom.� The paraphrase is a Christological interpretation of the psalm — i.e., an understanding of a passage of Old Testament scripture as pointing to the Christ of the New Testament.As hymn texts and tunes were often printed separately, Watts indicated that “Joy to the World� should be sung to any Common Meter (CM) tune — a poetic meter consisting of four lines that alternate between iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter, with each foot consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Consider the CM tunes, “Amazing Grace� and “O Little Town of Bethlehem,� for example — both very different from the tune commonly associated with Watts’ text today.That tune was written, or at least arranged, by the American hymn-writer and music educator Lowell Mason (1792-1872) and published in The National Psalmist (Boston, 1848). Mason had published three earlier arrangements of the tune he named “ANTIOCH,� the first in 1836 and attributed as being “from Handel.� Although Mason was a great admirer and student of Handel's music, and though the first four notes of Mason's “ANTIOCH� are the same as the first four in the chorus “Lift up your heads� from Handel's Messiah, the similarity ends there.This arrangement for brass quintet features a “bell-tone�-like fanfare in the introduction, interlude, and ending; textural contrasts between high and low brass; and tasteful re-harmonizations of the tune in the middle and concluding verses.©Copyright 2022 Todd Marchand / Con Spirito Music (ASCAP). All rights reserved. Visit www.conspiritomusic.com