(1988) 9'
Composed for the Chestnut Brass Company
Recorded on Albany Records (Troy 233)
Published by Theodore Presser Co.
↓
When Vincent Persichetti passed away in 1987, many of us who knew or studied with him composed pieces in his memory. Shortly after his death I began work on two pieces for brass quintet simultaneously, Variations on a Hymn of Persichetti and Deploration. Few composers have inspired as much love, admiration and music as Persichetti did in his decades of writing and teaching. As I considered a piece, Josquin’s moving tribute to his contemporary, the great Renaissance composer and teacher Johannes Ockeghem came to mind. Deploration is a lament that features the horn as the leading, expressive voice of the ensemble. After an opening section, the piece builds to a clangorous, bell-like climax that eventually subsides into a quiet, muted trumpet solo that quotes a folk lament from Southern Italy. After a chorale-like section with horn descant, the work ends as the horn intones the syllables of Persichetti’s name in long-spaced tones. Deploration was premiered by the Chestnut Brass Company at the First Presbyterian Church, Phila. PA, and published by Theodore Presser Co.