Brian Thomasson, 1972-. The Quest. Completed 1997. Scored for 2 each flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, and trumpets, 3 trombones, tympani, cymbals, bass drum, chimes, tam-tam, harp, piano, and strings. This is the first performance of the piece.
Some creative works spring almost unbidden to the author's mind, while others suffer a long and tortuous gestation. The latter is the case with The Quest, which took five years to complete. It developed in fits and starts, begrudged a day here and a week there, interspersed with intervals of many months devoted to other projects. Yet this sporadic genesis has produced its own charms, because Brian Thomasson was studying composition during the same period, and the musical development of the work reflects the author's own personal learning and growth. From the opening cry, a ``pleading to take on a precarious mission'' in Thomasson's words, The Quest carries us on a journey ``filled with adventure, trials, and tribulations''--certainly a fitting description of a young composer's ongoing struggle to produce his art.
© 1997, Geoff Kuenning
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