Concert Music
The Protagonist for da Capo Brass (2010)
Available on iTunes HERE.
The Protagonist is a 4-part piece for brass quintet in which the ensemble is guiding us through four scenes of differing moods and characters. The idea for the piece has gone through many different variations since its inception. I had, as I feel many composers for brass might, the itch to write epically and seriously, exploring the harsh emotional landscape that brass instruments seem to be able to capture so much better than others. As I began to write, however, entirely different sounds came into my head, and attached to them were entirely different stories.
Each movement represents a look into a different story. I had very specific personal memories and fantasies that I held up to these pieces of music for inspiration and direction. While these scenes suggest very real characters and situations for me, the emotions captured here are not specific to me and aren’t necessary to grasp the human element in the story.
Continually I will hear from composers about how the title of a piece is taken so literally by the audience that any reference to a finite thing will undoubtedly guide the listener to hear said thing, for better or worse. It was difficult for me, then, to strategize how I wanted to let on to the listener that these were scenes with characters in mind, but also remind them that their own emotional interpretation is more important for their experience. Initially called Curio, the piece was a reference to four oddities or musical colors. As I continued writing, linear story-lines acted as guideposts in the music, eventually taking over entirely as if a film score. Eventually I just gave in and wrote, renaming the piece again to Scenes Exclusively Involving The Protagonist, and, happily later, just The Protagonist.
Everyone is the protagonist in their own story, and I know that we’ve all felt at one time the same way that these scenes are projecting. I’d like to thank da Capo Brass for adding an entirely new level of emotion with their performances, and for all the hard work that went into making this piece possible
Requiescat (2007)
About: Requiescat is the title of the Oscar Wilde poem from which this piece is derived. The poem in its entirety is, to say the least, a truly crippling work of eloquent sadness. Wilde’s younger sister’s premature entombment is the motivation behind the poem Requiescat, written sometime after 1867. The lines move through a narration of his internal struggle to cope with the loss and pain as he surrenders his sister to the Earth.
Snowflakes are represented by the harp’s opening motive as we’re guided by Wilde’s poetry, “Tread lightly; she is near, under the snow.” The instrumental lines rise with the words agonizing over the image of the dead, now covered with earth. The descriptions are organic in the harmony of the melody as the “golden hair” he describes is the highest note of the phrase, while word “fallen” literally steps down from a dissonance to a consonance.
The F# that started the phrase becomes an important motivic element in the piece and is constantly at odds with the harmony in the accompaniment. Its irresolution represents a type of desperate clinging onto memories and refusal to let go. In what is perceptibly the most troubling section, the singer obviously loses control while recalling the most gruesome image of a heavy stone lying on the chest of the departed. Cluster chords and atonality suggest that she is at the very edge of her mental stability.
It is important to realize that the poem is not followed word for word as the music is an interpretation of the poem. I do not use the entire poem, skipping the entire third stanza as well as half of the final stanza. What is striking about the organization is that the interpretation of the poem provides a different ending to the story. Wilde’s poem ends with a truly heartbreaking resignation about his purpose in life as his sister’s coffin is buried before his very eyes.
The end offers hope, however, even if it wasn’t the intentions of Wilde’s words. The music very literally stops at the moment the switch occurs, as if the singer is struck with an epiphany. “She is at,” the singer says, making the audience expect the word “rest,” which was repeated earlier. Instead, the music moves to the earlier memories of his sister. “Peace,” she says knowingly. Stillness once again and the piece quietly ends with the reminder, “She can hear.”
The piece presented here is written for a soprano voice, violin, cello and harp. Dramatic in style, it is an art song meant to illustrate the snowy scene where he (although in this case sung by a female voice) first comes to terms with his loss. At the time of writing, I had secret reservations about whether or not tackling such a serious topic was something within my grasp. I had quite guiltily led a very lucky existence to that point, never truly experiencing loss at any level. In some ways the actual writing of Requiescat is an apology for that. Instead, I like to think it represents a statement a respect for the things that can shape a person’s being, and the hope that those things, however distressing at the time, will bring you closer to that which is important.
REQUIESCAT
by: Oscar Wilde
TREAD lightly, she is near
Under the snow,
Speak gently, she can hear
The daisies grow.
All her bright golden hair
Tarnished with rust,
She that was young and fair
Fallen to dust.
Lily-like, white as snow,
She hardly knew
She was a woman, so
Sweetly she grew.
Coffin-board, heavy stone,
Lie on her breast,
I vex my heart alone,
She is at rest.
Peace, peace, she cannot hear
Lyre or sonnet,
All my life’s buried here,
Heap earth upon it.
Instrumentation: Soprano, Violin, Cello and Harp
Recording: Justin Wright – Requiescat
Hailey Clark , Soprano
Cara Fleck , Harp
Phil Brezina, Violin
Kacy Clopton, Cello
Brass Quintet (2004)
About: Completed in the Spring of 2004
Instrumentation: Standard Brass Quintet – 2 Trumpets in C or B-flat, French Horn, Trombone and Tuba
Recording:
Justin Wright – Brass Quintet – Movement 1
Justin Wright – Brass Quintet – Movement 2
Kevin Businsky , Trumpet
Kurt Schewe, Trumpet
Sally Roberts, French Horn
Chris Moore, Trombone
Elizabeth Prince, Tuba
Episode for Violin (2003)
About: First performed by Phil Brezina in 2004 at The New Music at Maryland concert series, this was the first piece written under the tutelage of Dr. Mark E. Wilson, my composition teacher at The University of Maryland. The actual inspiration for writing the piece was fairly straightforward:
“So, Justin, you play the trumpet, yes?”
“Yes.”
“Great. Then we will write for something that is not the trumpet.”
The piece itself is about 4 minutes of fast, decisive rhythms with clear harmonic movement going from traditional major/minor intervals into more modern harmonies as the piece progressed. I like to think of the whole thing as a nice little microcosm of the first year of my musical education – slowly finding new sounds.
Instrumentation: Solo Violin
Recording: Phil Brezina at the New Music at Maryland Concert, October 2004 – Justin D Wright – Episode for Violin – Phil Brezina Violin
Abigale Reisman at New York University, April 2010
