List of Works || Pieces of Five: 37 Events

Pieces of Five was commissioned by Canadian Brass with the support of the Canada Council for performance at the Montreal Olympics. Weinzweig describes Pieces of Five as “a series of short-long, fast-slow, soft-loud actions that explore brass timbres and rhythmic interactions in a framework of dialogues.” The 37 events are assembled from 65 fragments. Many of Weinzweig’s earlier works maintain large-scale three- or four-movement structures, such as in the early Divertimenti. By the late 1960s and 70s, Weinzweig began to embrace a musical structure organized around brief “events,” with repetition as a unifying principle. Repetition pervades Pieces of Five: repetition of brief motives; immediate repetition of sections; repetition of sections at different points in the work.

Pieces of Five exhibits a jazz influence, specifically that of the swing band. Whenever a player solos, Weinzweig instructs the performer to stand up, as one would do in a swing band performance. He allows each performer to shine, but he gives particular emphasis to the tuba, an unlikely star. While each instrument displays timbral variety through the use of mutes and some extended technique (e.g., smacking and cracked tones), the focus is on the relationship between instruments: for example, Weinzweig frequently indicates “non synchronised,” which creates some indeterminacy in each performance.

Written by Alexa Woloshyn