Brass
Brass works by Katy Abbott: fanfares and ensemble pieces for brass, and solo and small-group works for trumpet, trombone, tuba and more. From full brass ensemble to a single player with piano, with many pieces suited to tertiary and professional performers. Scores and parts are linked with each piece.
Brass works for high school-level players are listed on the school music repertoire page.
Brass Ensemble
Fanfare for the Melancholy
(2021)
Brass Ensemble
Duration: 4:30 minutes
Fanfare for the Melancholy was made possible through the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s 50 Fanfares Project and was commissioned by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, supported by Geoff Stearn.
The title comes from the idea that a fanfare is sometimes heralding a call to action, or an invitation to listen or the arrival or celebration of someone or something meaningful to the audience. But what about other important things that never receive a fanfare?
In this case, it is an acknowledgment of ‘melancholy’, definitely not as a ‘negative’ feeling but as an acknowledgement of yearning and bitter-sweet. The piece has a lot of movement and I hope is fun to play whilst simultaneously tapping into an individual or collective ‘pull’ we may have about things that are important, often an inner experience, yet are not acknowledged with a fanfare.
Fanfare for the Melancholy is a ‘sister-work’ of Katy Abbott’s fanfare Punch (2013).
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Commissioned by Don Immel and Melbourne Conservatorium of Music
Sister work for Fanfare for the Melancholy (2021)
Purchase Punch: The Brass Music of Katy Abbott on CD
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Cross Sections
(2014)
Brass Ensemble + Solo Trumpet + Trombone
Duration: 16 minutes
Premiere: Sydney International Festival of Brass and MCM Brass Ensemble Tour to China in 2014.
This work is in three movements: Cross Section I, II and III. It is suitable for tertiary brass ensemble with advanced players on the solo trumpet and trombone lines. The commission was to feature Assoc Prof Joel Brennan (trumpet) with Prof Don Immel (trombone) as soloists whilst giving both students and teachers that chance to musically interact, to create stronger human and musical connections through the score.
‘Cross Section II’ uses the composer’s Nespresso Coffee Machine daily habit as a launching point for the textural drone in the haunting second movement.
Appears on Punch: The Brass Music of Katy Abbott.
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Solo and Chamber Brass
Facing Forward
(2020)
Trumpet in Bb + Piano
Duration: 4 minutes
Suitable for Upper Level High School and University Level students, Facing Forward was commissioned by Naomi and Simon Miller for their son Hugo, on the occasion of his sixteenth birthday; to acknowledge Hugo’s love and enjoyment of music through its creation.
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Midnight Songs
(2013)
Flugel Horn, Trombone, Guitar + Loop pedals and Delay
Duration: 25-30 minutes
Commissioned by Ensemble Three with the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music.
Premiered in China September 2013.
Note: guitar can be on acoustic or electric guitar.
Appears on Punch: The Brass Music of Katy Abbott.
Recorded on Ensemble Three’s debut disc Midnight Songs (Tall Poppies).
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UndercurrenT II
(2017)
Trumpet in Bb + Trombone + Electric Guitar
Duration: 10 minutes
Original version, for Soprano Saxophone + Piano was commissioned by HD Duo with University of Sydney.
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Echoes of Another Age
(2001)
Tuba and Piano
Duration: 5 minutes
Composed for Per Forsberg (tuba).
Also available for bass trombone and piano.
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