Commissioned by Kariya Kita High School Band Premiered in January, 2011.

My brass septet version of Cyrano de Bergerac was motivated by various productions describing this real character from 17th century France whose adventures inspired many tales.

As told by the author Edmond Rostand (1897), Cyrano de Bergerac, a cadet in the French Army, was a brash, strong-willed man of many talents. He was in love with his distant cousin, the beautiful and intellectual heiress Roxane. However, self-doubt over his extremely large nose prevented him from expressing his feelings for her. When Roxane professed her love for Christian, a handsome new cadet, Cyrano began writing love letters to Roxane on behalf of Christian.

As the story is from France, this work also reflects my passion for modern French music. I selected four views from the play. The introduction portrays Cyrano's secure yet sensitive and cautious character followed by a processional representing his glorious, strong-willed nature. Midway, the music shifts to beautiful Roxane, and Cyrano's unrequited love for her. The finale captures Cyrano's relief when he hears of Roxane's true feelings for him as he dies in her arms. (Here it's optional for Trumpet 1 to switch to flugelhorn)

This scoring is meant to be challenging for brass players. Please note to perform repeated high and low tone motives dramatically and focus on balance when using mutes. I have indicated use of straight and cup mutes, however, players may experiment with other mutes for different effects.

(Yosuke Fukuda)