Pattern Repititions

brass septet
Date of Composition: 1989

PROGRAM NOTES:

Pattern Repetitions may be listened to as a humoresque for brass septet, an almost continuous, hide-‘n’-seek play of notes and rests and varying articulations that occur in unexpected positions on a rhythmic grid. The repetition of patterns in the title refers to cycles of two, three, four, etc. that the players repeat in individual patterns and toss back and forth to one another. This “game” is interrupted by a tuba ritardando down to a low C and a brief lyrical horn part before everybody involved agrees to disagree and make a concerted coda, but still with a number of cross rhythms. The composition was begun in 1986 on a flight from Los Angeles to New York and is dedicated to Robert Schaaf, a long-time friend from my undergraduate days at the Manhattan School of Music.

-James Sellars