Horn,Trombone,Trumpet,Tuba - Level 5 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1158390 Composed by Dr. Daniel N. Thrower. 20th Century,Chamber,Classical,Contemporary,Historic. 34 pages. Https://gildedmusicpress.com/ #758671. Published by https://gildedmusicpress.com/ (A0.1158390). “Pony Express Trail†is the fourth substantial composition in a masterful series of “American Trails†for brass quintet. This piece commemorates the 160th year of the astounding system of stations and riders that was ingeniously devised to quickly deliver mail and other communications from America’s Missouri River frontier to the rapidly growing western territories. The music in this 4½-minute work is rambunctious, rhythmically unpredictable, and yet extremely exciting and listenable to the average audience member. The use of three woodblocks as the only percussion allude strongly to the clopping whirl of horses’ hooves, though not in a rhythmically mimicking manner. The opening motifs immediately develop into a manic ride across the Wild West, and lay the groundwork for all melodic content. These simple motifs smack of cowboy music, subtly borrowed from the movie theme to “Magnificent Seven†composed by Elmer Bernstein. Other influences for this piece include Aaron Copland’s harmonies and wide intervals, and the virtuosic brass band cornet writing of Gustav Holst and Malcolm Arnold. In the style of an operatic three-part overture, the middle slow section memorializes the tragic loss of 16 lives during the Paiute war in the summer of 1860. Being a rider or a station attendant for the Pony Express was perilous on any leg of the trail, but especially during that time in the Nevada Territory. In a very real way, all these men were iconic heroes of the American West.
