Since chamber music evokes a feeling of intimacy, the idea of writing a fanfare for a large symphonic brass choir posed a number of problems to me. But this was the request of the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society to celebrate their 25th anniversary season.
Fanfares to Music, my solution to this quandary, is basically a short lyrical and introspective piece involving a standard brass quintet on the stage and “fanfare elements” played by the remaining six players around the back of the hall.
The onstage quintet plays a long chorale-like passage, answered at first by solos from its own ranks, and later from the offstage players. This dialogue reaches a peak and resolves into a gentle setting of Schubert’s masterful song An Die Musik (hence the title) from which all of the earlier fanfare elements were taken. For me, this great Art song perfectly captures the essence of chamber music.
— John Corigliano