Music for Brass

Program Note

Runner-Runner derives from a “bad beat” I received at a poker tournament in 2015. I was in a fairly large pot with a set of fours, and was facing an “all-in” from my opponent. I called his bet, we turned over our cards, and I was happy to see that he only had a pair of threes. Everyone at the table knew that the only way my opponent could win the hand would be to hit a three on the turn (the fourth card), and then another three on the river (the fifth card), an event known in the poker world as “runner-runner.”

You can guess exactly what happened next. 

Just like that, I was out of the tournament. The following morning, still a little miffed about the unexpected turn of events, I set out to tinker with the fanfare that had been on my to-do list for a while, and the idea of Fours (sixteenth notes) against Threes (triplets of all forms) began to gnaw at me, hence the rhythmic “dissonance” that is to be found throughout the work.

Note: Parts for alto, tenor, and baritone sax are optional, and included to help cover the third and fourth horn parts (in case the brass choir does not have enough horns, or if they need a little strengthening), while the tenor and baritone sax parts can help cover or bolster the trombone II and III parts respectively. These parts are optional (my preference is that they are not used, except when the above instruments are missing).