Trumpet and Piano
Duration ca. 10:00
PROGRAM NOTES
Rhapsody for Trumpet is the third work in a series of compositions of the same name for solo wind instruments and piano. The music is in three major sections, delineated by tempo and style. The first part offers a bold statement characterized by melodic leaps alternating with scale fragments and punctuated by an active exchange between the instruments. The middle section is a cantabile melody, initiated by piano and developed and expanded with the trumpet solo. A brief unaccompanied interlude closes the section. The third part is a playful section featuring a syncopated theme with jazz stylings. Rhapsody for Trumpet was written for trumpeter Bryan Crisp and his wife, Sarah.
ABOUT THE COMPOSER
Greg Danner (b. 1958) is Professor of Music at Tennessee Technological University. Born in St. Louis, Missouri (1958) he received the B.A. from Southeast Missouri State University, the M.M. from the Eastman School of Music, and the Ph.D. from Washington University. His awards include the College Band Directors National Association Music for Young Band prize, vocal category and grand prize in the Delius Society composition contest, first prize in the Composers Guild composition contest, first prize in the Taghkanic Chorale composers competition, and the Louisiana Music Teachers Association Composer Commission Award.
Recent commissions include works for the U.S. Air Force Band of Mid-America, the Tennessee Music Education Association, and the Gateway Music Festival. Dr. Danner has received annual ASCAP awards for composition since 1989.
An active performer (horn), he has held positions with the Baton Rouge and Acadiana orchestras in Louisiana and has performed with the Huntsville (AL) Symphony, the Lake Charles and Rapides orchestras in Louisiana and the Saint Louis Symphony, Saint Louis Municipal Opera, and Webster Groves orchestras in Missouri. He is a former member of the Louisiana Brass Quintet and Evangeline Wind Quintet. Dr. Danner is currently hornist with the Brass Arts Quintet, the Bryan Symphony Orchestra, and Tennessee Philharmonic. He is a freelance and studio musician in the Nashville area.
