Top Brass: Six Minutes for 12 Brass: Brass Choir Conductor Score

Shulman writes for brass with genuine jazz vocabulary and voice independence that keeps all twelve players engaged. The three-movement structure gives shape and variety without exhausting your ensemble, and the scoring allows sections to breathe while maintaining the tight ensemble blend brass choirs demand.

Top Brass captures the swagger and sophistication of mid-century jazz, but filtered through a composer's ear for classical form and brass choir sonority. It's energetic and conversational without ever feeling chaotic, with moments of genuine lyricism alongside snappy rhythmic figures.

Conductors leading advanced brass choirs or concert bands with strong brass sections who want to step beyond the standard wind band repertoire. This work speaks to musicians ready for jazz inflection and sophisticated voice leading without requiring a rhythm section.

• Balance the trumpet and horn lines carefully in the sustained passages. Horns should anchor the harmony without overpowering the trumpet melody.
• Treat rhythmic figures across the full ensemble as conversations, not declarations. Precision matters, but the jazz feel comes from slight elasticity in the forward motion.
• Give the trombone and tuba section room to lock together on their bass lines. Their clarity and cohesion will support everything above them.
• Shape phrases across entire movements rather than section by section. The three-movement form works best when each section breathes as a complete unit.

Program this alongside lighter concert band fare to show your ensemble's range and stylistic flexibility. It works especially well in a concert built around American music or in a season that pairs classical and contemporary voices. At roughly six minutes, it fills a substantial slot without overshadowing larger works.

• Jazz articulation and phrasing
• Harmonic independence within ensemble blend
• Rhythmic precision in swung and syncopated figures
• Balance and voice leading across a full brass choir
• Reading and responding to jazz-influenced compositional language