Review

Stan Pethel
Two Canzonas:
10-part brass ensemble: 4 B-flat trumpets, 2 F horns, 2 trombones, 2 tubas, optional organ

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 2021
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com

Score and parts.

Primary Genre: Brass Ensemble - 6+ brass (choir)

Dr. Stan Pethel is Professor of Music Emeritus at Berry College near Rome, Georgia. Dr. Pethel taught music theory, composition and arranging, world music, and low brass. He is a well-known composer and arranger of sacred music with about 1,500 anthems, piano collections, instrumental books, and cantatas. Dr. Pethel has a doctorate in trombone performance from the University of Kentucky (1981), which explains his solid writing for brass ensemble. The arrangements encompass comfortable ranges and key centers. He knows how to make each choir sound resonant on its own.

These works are based on two well-known tunes: “Handel's MACCABEUS, generally associated with the hymn, Thine Is the Glory, and LLANFAIR widely known as the beautiful Welsh tune most often used for the well-known hymn, Jesus Christ Is Risen Today. Both are melodies with Easter related texts. Pethel's style is reminiscent of Gabrieli's well-known canzonas of the 17th Century but sprinkled with more modern harmonies. The works are scored for double brass quintet: 4 B-flat trumpets, 2 F horns, 2 trombones, and 2 tubas plus optional organ. Each run about three minutes in length, appropriate for advanced performers.