Maurer's 12 Kleine Stücke (12 Little Pieces) for five brass were published posthumously in 1881 and were written for two cornets in Bb, two horns in Eb, and one bass trombone. They are important works for brass in that they are some of the earliest pieces of brass chamber music existing; with Anton Simon's Quartuor en forme de sonatine, Alexander Glazinov's In modo religioso and Wilhelm Ramsøe's five Quartets they remain some of the handful of original brass works from the nineteenth century.
This edition is taken from the first version published by A. Büttner of St. Petersburg, Russia. In order to make it more accessible for a modern brass quintet the second horn part is transposed for trombone, and the lowest part may be performed on either tuba or bass trombone. I have tried to resolve the many contradictions in articulations found in the original score while keeping this edition as close to the original as possible. Many brass players may be unfamiliar with the complete version of this piece; I encourage them to perform the entire work as Maurer originally intended.
David Mathie (2016).
