Toot tooT

David Gier, trombone; David Greenhoe, trumpet

The piece gives its name to a CD of “Chamber Trios with Trombone.” Stemper’s note on the performance reflects a political edge (it was written in the “bewildering span of time between 9/11 and the Iraq ‘conflict'”), and the piece wildly veers from subtle to raging to comical. The explorations of timbre and attack rarely conjure up military associations, and the writing doesn’t stretch the brass players into high, pinched registers. By keeping trumpet and trombone in their middle range, Stemper allows them to stay focused and forceful.

—DA