Tusheti

Gaudete Brass Quintet
Ryan Berndt, Trumpet
Bill Baxtresser, Trumpet
Phillip Kassel, Horn
Paul Von Hoff, Trombone
Scott Tegge, Tuba

Tusheti is the name of the most northeastern province in the Republic of Georgia and is home to two national parks located on the northern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountains. The Lonely Planet guide lists this region as “one of the country’s most fascinating and pristine high-mountain regions.
The name Tusheti was chosen because this quintet employs many of the compositional techniques associated with traditional a cappella secular vocal polyphony often performed by sheep and cattle herders in the Republic of Georgia. The techniques common to traditional Georgian polyphony and this work include ostinati and rhythmic drones, antiphonal responses, constant melodic variation, strong dissonances, frequent modulation, accelerated cadences, declarative melodies, and an imitation of a free type of yodel know as krimanchuli.

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