Articulations for Brass Quintet - Milan Slavický
Milan Slavický composed Articulations for Brass Quintet in 1980 (the manuscript was finished 21.5.1980).
The grouping of two trumpets, French horn, trombone and tuba (or bass trombone) has in concert music established in the second half of the 20th century and Slavický’s composition belongs to the compositions that promoted this ensemble also in czech music, along with string quartets and wind quintets. In 1980s, this composition was in repertoire of Czech Brass Quintet and Brno Brass Band.
The name Articulations refers not only to the musical meaning of the word (the way that tones follow after each other) but together with the names of particular movements it is related to linguistics (the forming of sounds by speech organs). For the movements names Slavický used terms from language morphology and for each of them he selected concrete articulation, expression and timbre – Nominativ (portamento, legato), Question (legato, with mutes), Imperative (a gradating staccato). The exception is the second movement composed in a humorously caricaturing style of swing that refers to brass instruments as instruments employed particularly in the big band jazz.
Other compositions by Milan Slavický published in Czech Radio:
Invocation IV for violin, clarinet and piano
Morning Thanksgiving