Music: I. Moderato  (click to see, play or free download the music) A complete score is available from SIKORSKI

The composition was written in November 2003 as a commission for the Park Lane Group.  It is a cycle of four short pieces.  In the first piece (Moderato) I have used a mode of five notes: c-d-e-f-a for the euphonium and for piano a mode of seven other notes: c#-d#-f#-g-g#-a#-b. In the 3rd and 4th pieces (Andante cantabile and Moderato) the euphonium and piano swap their modes. Moreover, in the final movement the euphonium adopts the piano part texture from the first piece.  The second movement (Vivo) is very fast and virtuoso piece, where both instruments play all 12 notes of the chromatic scale.  The title EUPHONISMS means a “harmonious speech” and reflects not only a concordant dialogue between the instruments, but also hints at the name of the euphonium itself.