Aaron Copland and the Original “Quiet City”

Website(s) : http://www.christopherbrellochs.com

Performance of A. Copland’s Quiet City arranged by C. Brellochs. Instrumentation for alto saxophone, trumpet, Bb clarinet/bass clarinet, piano.

Biography

CHRISTOPHER BRELLOCHS Saxophonist Christopher Brellochs has performed at Carnegie Hall and in solo recitals throughout the United States. Brellochs’ recordings include two CDs, Quiet City (2011) and Apotheosis of the Saxophone (2008). Brellochs has lectured at the Manhattan School of Music and a College Music Society Conference on the topic “Benjamin Britten and the Saxophone”; his article, “Aaron Copland’s Use of the Saxophone in Wind Band Repertoire,” was published in the Journal of the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE, Volume 14, 2007). Brellochs is Chair of the Music Certificate Program at Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie, New York, USA. For more information visit www.christopherbrellochs.com.

More information

Performance of AARON COPLAND (1900-1990): QUIET CITY (1939/2007) – published by Boosey & Hawkes, adapted by Christopher Brellochs. Instrumentation is for alto saxophone, trumpet, Bb clarinet/bass clarinet, piano. It’s April 1939, and Aaron Copland brings his baton down as the curtain rises for the Group Theatre in New York City. It’s the dress rehearsal of Quiet City, an Irwin Shaw (1913-1984) play that never made it to opening night. “My career in the theatre has been a flop,” lamented Copland. The play was about a man who renounces his beliefs and artistic aspirations; as he gets older his conscience haunts him in the form of aural hallucinations of his brother’s trumpet playing. The play was cancelled after two tryout performances and, although the original manuscript has never been published, Copland recast some of the musical material into his well-known orchestral version of “Quiet City” (1940) for trumpet, English horn, and string orchestra, and his Academy Award nominated film score to “Our Town” (1940). The remainder of the score – along with a number of wonderful themes and motifs – has not been heard until now, over 70 years later. During his doctoral studies Brellochs obtained a copy of the unpublished manuscript to Quiet City from saxophonist and historian Paul Cohen. The score was handwritten by Copland and called for a chamber ensemble of trumpet, saxophone (doubling on clarinet), clarinet (doubling on bass clarinet), and piano. Here was never before heard music of the highest quality, by an iconic American composer. Brellochs immediately began to work on ideas to give this music a new life, crafting a concert version that preserved the original instrumentation and included all the original music. No new material was written. The music was reorganized for concert purposes and a few orchestration changes were made to achieve a balanced chamber quality (this included moving some melodies from the trumpet, and eliminating the doubling in the saxophone). The opening three minutes are exactly what one would have heard at the rehearsals on Broadway in 1939.