Brilliant Brushstrokes
Brass Band
6'
6'
Program Note
Brilliant Brushstrokes is inspired by an overwhelmingly colorful and bold painting that the Knoxville-born artist Beauford Delaney (1901-1979) painted on a fragment of his old raincoat when he was living in Paris in 1954. Delaney’s raincoat fragment overflows abstractly with swirls, rings, splotches, and lines of forest green, deep orange, bright yellow, fire-engine red, hazy gray, spacious white, peaceful azure, and deep ocean blue. Upon closer viewing, the seams and pockets of the cut-up raincoat are also visible, revealing that the fanciful artwork is the result of Delaney’s resourcefulness in the face of limited money and art supplies. As a fellow artist, I find Delaney’s unrelenting and restless impulse to be creative even when he lacked proper materials to be almost as inspiring as the painting itself. Although Brilliant Brushstrokes is tightly constructed around only a few melodic gestures, the music constantly cycles through changes in instrumental texture, density, harmony, and energy. Musical phrases are often cut-off abruptly with a quick down-up gesture that I view as related to the stitched seams on the raincoat. Overall, the composition uses the vast and variegated color palette of the brass ensemble to capture the inventive spirit and brilliant dynamism of Delaney’s brushstrokes, splatters, and daubs. The brass band version was co-commissioned by the University of Georgia British Brass Band (Gilbert Villagrana, conductor) and the San Francisco Brass Band (Jeffrey de Seriere, conductor).
Premiere Performances
University of Georgia British Brass Band (Gilbert Villagrana, conductor)
February 22, 2026, Hodgson Concert Hall, Athens, GA
San Francisco Brass Band (Jeffrey de Seriere, conductor)
November 5, 2026, Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, Mountain View, CA
This piece is currently under exclusivity and will be published by Just A Theory Press in December 2026.
Instrumentation
Soprano Cornet
Solo Cornet 1-2
Solo Cornet 3-4
Repiano Cornet
Cornet 2
Cornet 3
Flugelhorn
Solo Horn in E-flat
Horn in E-flat 1
Horn in E-flat 2
Baritone Horn 1
Baritone Horn 2
Trombone 1
Trombone 2
Bass Trombone
Euphonium 1
Euphonium 2
E-flat Bass
B-flat Bass
Timpani
Percussion 1 (drum set)
Percussion 2 (xylophone, cowbell, two woodblocks)
Percussion 3 (glockenspiel, vibraphone, sandpaper blocks, three triangles)
Brilliant Brushstrokes is inspired by an overwhelmingly colorful and bold painting that the Knoxville-born artist Beauford Delaney (1901-1979) painted on a fragment of his old raincoat when he was living in Paris in 1954. Delaney’s raincoat fragment overflows abstractly with swirls, rings, splotches, and lines of forest green, deep orange, bright yellow, fire-engine red, hazy gray, spacious white, peaceful azure, and deep ocean blue. Upon closer viewing, the seams and pockets of the cut-up raincoat are also visible, revealing that the fanciful artwork is the result of Delaney’s resourcefulness in the face of limited money and art supplies. As a fellow artist, I find Delaney’s unrelenting and restless impulse to be creative even when he lacked proper materials to be almost as inspiring as the painting itself. Although Brilliant Brushstrokes is tightly constructed around only a few melodic gestures, the music constantly cycles through changes in instrumental texture, density, harmony, and energy. Musical phrases are often cut-off abruptly with a quick down-up gesture that I view as related to the stitched seams on the raincoat. Overall, the composition uses the vast and variegated color palette of the brass ensemble to capture the inventive spirit and brilliant dynamism of Delaney’s brushstrokes, splatters, and daubs. The brass band version was co-commissioned by the University of Georgia British Brass Band (Gilbert Villagrana, conductor) and the San Francisco Brass Band (Jeffrey de Seriere, conductor).
Premiere Performances
University of Georgia British Brass Band (Gilbert Villagrana, conductor)
February 22, 2026, Hodgson Concert Hall, Athens, GA
San Francisco Brass Band (Jeffrey de Seriere, conductor)
November 5, 2026, Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, Mountain View, CA
This piece is currently under exclusivity and will be published by Just A Theory Press in December 2026.
Instrumentation
Soprano Cornet
Solo Cornet 1-2
Solo Cornet 3-4
Repiano Cornet
Cornet 2
Cornet 3
Flugelhorn
Solo Horn in E-flat
Horn in E-flat 1
Horn in E-flat 2
Baritone Horn 1
Baritone Horn 2
Trombone 1
Trombone 2
Bass Trombone
Euphonium 1
Euphonium 2
E-flat Bass
B-flat Bass
Timpani
Percussion 1 (drum set)
Percussion 2 (xylophone, cowbell, two woodblocks)
Percussion 3 (glockenspiel, vibraphone, sandpaper blocks, three triangles)