Pain From Despair

(2026) - British brass band - timp, vibes, sdm, bdm, sus. cymb., chimes, tam-tam)

Duration ca. 11:30

Brass Band - Grade 5

Click to view perusal score

Pain from Despair is a companion work to Mourn, continuing the reflection on the cultural and artistic uncertainty surrounding 2025 and 2026. That uncertainty has been shaped in part by proposed federal budget cuts affecting the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH); institutions that have long supported artistic and scholarly work across the United States.

While Mourn contemplates these challenges with a sense of quiet grief, Pain from Despair takes a far more direct and confrontational approach. The music speaks openly to the frustration and urgency felt within the arts community, moving beyond reflection to a raw expression of emotional strain.

Pain from Despair features:

• Fast, complex technical passages

• Prominent Solo Cornet, Flugelhorn, 1st Baritone, Euphonium, Timpani solos

• Extreme trombone glissandi

• Wide range on all instruments

• Wide dynamics

• Straight mutes for every instrument except Flugelhorn and 1st Baritone

• Harmon mutes for Soprano Cornet, 2nd Cornet, 3rd Cornet, 2nd Horn, Bass Trombone

• Unless indicated, all percussion instruments use a standard mallet for each instrument.

Recommended for professional and competitive brass bands.