Brass music for Trains

Iron Horse is a brass quintet piece composed by American composer Kevin Mckee (b.1980). You can hear two different trains in this two different movements. Here is the composer's explanation of this composition in below, which is from the website: https://www.kevinmckeemusic.com/iron-horse

I. The Blue Goose

    In my hometown, Yreka, CA, there used to be a beautiful steam engine called the Blue Goose that took visitors on a slow excursion through Shasta Valley.  Picture a vast valley of rolling hills surrounded by snowcapped mountains (not too unlike the Rohan realm from the Lord of the Rings).  During many summers of my childhood my father and a friend of his used to go down to the depot with their guitars and entertain Blue Goose passengers with old-timey songs.  I’d often tag along and watch as the train pulled out of the station. To this day there are few things that will set my imagination off as much as train tracks disappearing around a bend.  

    The Blue Goose was my starting point for this pastoral first movement. It opens with the listener (or passenger, rather) being slowly awoken by the morning light and the faint sound of a train chugging along.  A glance out the window reveals the beautiful valley and the rest of the movement  attempts to accompany the ride.  While the music I’ve written would seem overly dramatic as a soundtrack to the actual Blue Goose excursion (it was a slow train), it is very much in the spirit of my memory of those times and my feelings toward that place. 

II. Highball on White Pass

     By contrast, this movement is a dark, balls-to-the-wall thrill ride.  White Pass is an Alaskan train route that is noted for it’s epic scenery, cliff-hanging turns and steep grades.  This movement opens mysteriously on a dark and snowy night as a beast of an engine, shrouded in steam, awaits the highball (train lingo for “all clear to go”).  The ball is raised and the massive iron horse blows a whistle and pulls out - excruciatingly slow at first but gradually gathering speed.  Before long it’s blazing ahead at a dangerously fast clip along epic ravines, over chasms, around crazy turns…you get the picture! 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD2ylnHSfFJVXeNxTCccPOg

I think this music is interesting because it sounds like a very commercial style in a tourist advertisement or the background music in a romantic movie. It would be very suitable for a children’s concert. I had an opportunity to play this music with my bass trombone, which worked very well for the second movement, Highball in white pass. From my personal view, the bass trombone sound texture matches the group and fits the vibe of the music. Especially when the group started to make the rail sound and gradually got faster.  I’m looking forward to hearing a recording of this music playing with bass trombone instead of tuba.

Take me with you whether in a car or a train!

Pangmi hates being in a car or a train, because she has to stay in her cat cage. But she really enjoys brass music as well as how much she enjoys cleaning the shower room.