NOSPR in Chamber Mode / Brass quintet by Crespo, E., Ewazen, McKee, K., Fra (2023/2023), NOSPR, Katowice, Poland

The topic of American music is as wide as the Great Plains which stretch from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. Although rooted in Europe, the world of American classical music evolved in a specific way of its own. This time, we are about to meet three representatives of the traditional current, authors of wide-spreading melodies, who were also specialists in composing for wind instruments. The „Iron Horse” from Kevin McKee’s (born 1980) piece is an old steam train engine, a memory from his childhood spent in a small town in northern California. Eric Ewazen’s (born 1954) Colchester Fantasy is a virtuosic postcard from an English town – the titles of the piece’s four movements are names of the town’s traditional... pubs. The suite was Alec Wilder’s (1907–1980) favourite form – his pieces are communicative and show significant inspiration drawn from jazz. Three generations yet showing a similar way of thinking about music – classical in spirit, accessible and timeless.