
This work is scored for three trumpets, horn, two trombones, euphonium and tuba, and was written in 1974 specially for the premier recording of the James Shepherd Versatile Brass (on the Decca label). It has three movements – an opening Toccata built on two contrasting ideas (the first antiphonal, the second lyrical), followed by a rather nostalgic slow movement, and finally a very fast and rhythmic dance which uses folk-like modal melodies set in ever changing time meters (a deliberate homage here to Bartok).