Billie’s for Breakfast

Instrumentation

Wind quintet: flute, clarinet, tenor saxophone, trumpet, trombone

Other Information

Billie’s for Breakfast (1998) for wind quintet – flute, clarinet, tenor saxophone, trumpet, trombone. The work begins with a sustained opening, moving into a rhythmic middle section with large improvisatory sections for clarinet, trumpet, tenor saxophone, trombone and flute. The pitches indicated show the improviser the harmony in the accompanying instruments. The last section is a development of the introduction and is very sustained and loud throughout, before a pause for breath and the last chord with some fast improvisation over the top, all in a big band style. The work was first performed at Birmingham Conservatoire in 1999.