Brass quintet repertoire

The bulk of any brass quintet's repertoire consists of arrangements of pre-existing music. Victor Ewald's four brass quintets are the first serious attempts at establishing a repertoire for the ensemble. The Chicago and New York Brass Quintets made sustained efforts to commission new works, and much of the original repertoire for brass quintet from the mid-20th century derives from their groundbreaking work. The mantle of creating a repertoire for brass quintet was taken up by the American Brass Quintet. Though the Canadian Brass popularized the quintet as an ensemble, it rarely performs original repertoire.

The American Brass Quintet uses bass trombone instead of tuba, and their extensive commissioning has increased the popularity of this instrumentation. It is not uncommon for composers to write interchangeable parts for tuba and bass trombone to enable both types of quintets to perform their work.

Brass Quintet Repertoire

References