Hugh Wood

Funeral Music op. 33 For Brass Quintet

This is a short piece for brass quintet in one movement. The polyphony of the introduction gives way to massed chords, which in turn lead to the first main section. This is a funeral march during which all the instruments have solos in turn. The trombone is first, then trumpet I; horn; later in duet with trumpet II; finally there is long solo for the tuba.

The second section is a series of fanfares on trumpets, joined by the horn, which alternate with successive phrases of a chorale melody on the lower instruments - horn, trombone, and tuba. Mit Fried and Freud ich far dahin is Martin Luther's masterly and very beautiful re-creation in German of the Nunc dimittus. The massed chords of the introduction then return, and the piece ends with the polyphony with which it began.

Parts available: SOS04782