Dave Nicolette - Music

The brass quintet I play in has been looking at the Viktor Ewald quintets, and we were bemused to find this: It's the opening of the third movement in quintet no. 4, and it's in Fb major - eight flats (that is, seven flats with B double-flat). Okay, why not E major, then? Well, the rest of the piece is in flat keys; all four of the quintets are in flat keys. It wouldn't have looked as funky to them as it does to us. Today, the standard instrumentation of a brass quintet is 2 Bb trumpets, F horn, trombone, and tuba (or bass trombone). The trombone and tuba parts are written in concert pitch, so we end up with eight flats in those parts. In Ewald's day, a brass quintet was a subset of a brass band. The instrumentation in his group was 2 Bb cornets, Eb alto horn, Bb baritone horn, and Bb tuba. The parts were transposed and written in treble clef, as in a brass band. So, the passage above would have looked something like this: The parts for the Bb instruments...

The Demon Saga trilogy is a fantasy/scifi story of mine that involves several fictional human groups and some demons. You can get the books on LeanPub at https://leanpub.com/b/demonsagatrilogy . As a writing device, I tried to make the people realistic by imagining various elements of their cultures such as ethnicity, appearance, clothing, religion, philosophy, poetry, music, cuisine, history, languages, and wise old sayings. That's all explained in the end notes in Book III. Get the sheet music from Sheet Music Plus or Sheet Music Direct . The Suite is an orchestral setting of music that represents the various cultures in the trilogy, and some of the main characters. Having music for them helped me to shape them and incorporate them seamlessly into the fictional world. You can think of the music as selections that might be included in a film score, if anyone made a movie out of the story. The sections include: Demon Theme Village Dance (Hill Folk) Battle Song (T...

Inspired by the American southwest, this is a three-movement piece with a fast-slow-fast format. Movements 2 and 3 are played attacca. The 4/4 first movement opens with a series of robust chords and accelerates to an allegro moderato. The slow movement dovetails into the third, bringing back the opening material in 3/4 and rising to a brisk allegro. At just under 10 minutes, it's a good length for a recital program. Difficulty is advanced intermediate. Get the sheet music from Sheet Music Plus and Sheet Music Direct

New brass quintet music for 2026, written on January 11. Suitable for a light program, this relaxed 2/2 piece maintains a consistent, almost hypnotic rhythm and alternates between just two chords, Bbm and F7. It features solos for Trombone and Trumpet 1. Duration is about 4:45, difficulty is intermediate. Get the sheet music from Sheet Music Plus or Sheet Music Direct . Don't forget to send me a link if you post a video of your group playing it!

The award-winning American poet Renée Nicole Goode was killed execution-style by an operative of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) not far from her home in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 7, 2026. She is survived by her spouse and three children. I composed a piece for concert band in her memory, entitled "...and what dies there." The title is the final line of her poem, "On Learning to Dissect Fetal Pigs." The work won the 2020 Academy of American Poets Prize. The title seems apt to me, because when a government starts killing its own people, something more dies besides the individual victims. Goode was not the first American killed by the government, and she will not be the last, but her murder struck a chord with the American people because of the brutal and casual way it was done and the lies told by the government to try and justify the killing afterwards. The piece is offered at the minimum price the online sheet music sites will accep...

For something a little different from the usual community/school band fare, check out this setting of four waltzes by early 20th-century Venezuelan composers, for concert band. It's called Juego 1 (Set 1) because I want to write an arrangement of four other Venezuelan waltzes, but haven't gotten around to it. The waltzes in set 1 are: Adios, a Acumare (Antonio Lauro) Pluma y Lira (J. Telesforo Jaimes) Dama Antanona (Francisco de Paula Aguirre) Conticinio (Laudelino Mejias) The waltz form is an audience favorite, and these are fine examples of the genre. The arrangement presents sufficient challenges to keep the band members interested, and features each section at least once. Find the sheet music on Sheet Music Plus and Sheet Music Direct .

You never know whence musical inspiration may come. Waiting for a flight at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport in 2017, I overheard one end of a phone conversation between a young woman and her friend. As many people do, she said too much about herself and spoke more loudly than necessary, as if unaware she was in a public space. She described a pork chop she had been served in a restaurant. Apparently, it was larger than she had expected, and she couldn't finish it. She expounded on this fascinating subject for a good(?) twenty minutes, at a forte dynamic level. It struck me as a little funny that she was a doctor, and yet had a very limited vocabulary. She mentioned the size of the pork chop many, many times, and yet could only think of a few simple ways to describe it. It was, repeatedly, "big," "very big," "so big," "really big," or "incredibly big." The whole presentation seemed overly theatrical. And so The Incredibly Big...

I started writing arrangements for various ensembles when I was a teenager, but I didn't try my hand at composition until many years later. I had musical ideas and wrote them down, but threw them away the next day. I lacked confidence. To encourage me, my high school band director introduced me to an acquaintence of his, composer Vaclav Nelhybel , who was conducting our All State orchestra in his Music for Orchestra . This must have been 1969 or 1970, but I don't quite remember. Composed in 1967, Music for Orchestra was still fairly new at the time. Nelhybel composed many pieces for concert band, too, including Trittico (1965), which has become one of the standard band warhorses. I had played it with a couple of student bands, and liked it a lot. I was thrilled to meet the man in person. He was a larger-than-life figure for many of us. My band director must have told him that I was interested in composition but needed a nudge. I don't recall his exact words, but ...

Blauenfreude for brass quintet (two trumpets, horn, trombone, tuba) is a straightforward blues piece. It includes solos for Trombone, Trumpet 2, and Horn, which can be improvised or played as written. You can also repeat the solo section to give Trumpet 1 and Tuba a chance. The title is a play on the word Schadenfreude , meaning "malicious joy at someone else's misfortune." Blauenfreude , then, must mean "malicious joy at someone else's blues." I hope you derive joy from your own blues when you play it. Find the music at Sheet Music Plus and Sheet Music Direct .

Tonight the Marana Big Phat Band starts rehearsing again after the holiday break. It's an amateur/semi-pro big band founded by trombonist Hank Canitz. Tons of fun! YouTube videos (Be kind. Those outdoor venues aren't acoustically ideal.) P.S. - I'm the little fat guy second from the right.

Although I'm still in the process of uploading my music to online stores, I wanted to announce this one right away because it's my first piece for 2026. Written for the standard brass quintet instrumentation - two trumpets, horn, trombone, tuba - it's a sort of "mini tone poem" inspired by the idea of a Medieval Spanish city defending itself against an attack. It isn't based on any real historical event. It's just a fun piece to include on a program. Find it on Sheet Music Plus and Sheet Music Direct . Enjoy!

The sheet music for Scary Clown is out! Find it on Sheet Music Plus and Sheet Music Direct . The music is inspired by the quirky dark humor and cheesy horror of B movies. Musically, it offers sufficient challenges for the band to be interesting and yet is very accessible for general audiences. At about four and a half minutes, the length is a good fit for a community band or school band program.

I'm a composer/arranger and low brass player/teacher based in Tucson, Arizona. This blog has announcements of new publications and musical events. My compositions and arrangements are available on Sheet Music Plus and Sheet Music Direct . Information about private lessons is available at NeoPragma .

On a visit to Spain in 2016, I fell in love with the Les Falles festival in Valencia. Since then, I've written over 100 short pieces for concert band in honor of the festival. Most are in the style of a pasodoble , but there are other styles in the collection as well. All are in the spirit of the festival. I'm still gradually adding them to online stores, so check back from time to time to check for new additions on Sheet Music Plus and Sheet Music Direct .