Five Fantasies for Brass Choir Op. 70 No. 5: Brass Ensemble

This work sits at a rich intersection of accessibility and artistic integrity. Hovhaness constructs the piece with clear harmonic and melodic logic grounded in Eastern modal writing, giving brass players something genuinely substantial to sink their teeth into without requiring avant-garde technique or atonal training. The score rewards careful ensemble blend and intonation work in ways that feel immediately musical rather than abstract.

The sound evokes ancient brass ceremonial music filtered through a modern sensibility. Sonorities are warm and resonant rather than brittle, with a contemplative quality that never tips into melancholy. There is dignity and weight here, a sense of ritual observed with care and respect.

This work suits brass ensembles from strong community bands through university-level groups seeking substantive, non-standard repertoire. Advanced high school brass choirs with secure ensemble technique and solid intonation will also find this musically rewarding. Conductors building a concert that reaches beyond the standard European brass canon will recognize Hovhaness as a composer of genuine vision.

• Balance the ensemble so inner voices remain audible. Hovhaness layers his harmonies carefully, and when second trumpet or horn lines disappear into the mix, the harmonic language loses definition. Regularly check balance at each part's entrance.
• Attend to the tuning of vertical sonorities rather than relying on standard tempered pitch alone. The modal language sometimes calls for adjustments that pure intonation practice will help reveal.
• Shape phrases through dynamic contour and weight of sound rather than tempo fluctuation. Hovhaness's lines often move at a deliberate pace, and the musical momentum comes from how you color and breathe the melodic material.
• Treat the lower brass as foundational to the harmonic language. Tuba, French horn, and bass trumpet establish the modal centers that upper voices orbit; their solidity enables everything above to speak clearly.

Program this as the centerpiece of a concert exploring non-Western influences on twentieth-century music, pairing it with works by Messiaen, Takemitsu, or other composers who engaged with Eastern traditions. It also works powerfully as an intermission or concert-closing statement, offering audiences something genuinely different from the familiar band and orchestral brass literature they encounter regularly.

• Reading and performing modal melodies unfamiliar to traditional Western training
• Adjusting intonation for harmonic sonorities outside equal temperament
• Balancing inner voices and secondary melodic lines in ensemble texture
• Sustaining extended phrases with musical shape and weight of tone
• Ensemble listening and blend across brass choirs (trumpet, horn, trombone, tuba sections)