Bach - Bist Du Bei Mir - Quartet

[davewerden]

This pretty piece was used at my wedding (vocal) and has been a favorite of mine since my junior high band played it. This is for 2 euphoniums and 2 tubas. It is from the Anna Magdalena Handbook. As with many of my arrangements, I rotate the fun among the players where practical. In this piece the first melody section is played by me the first time and by Denis Winter the second time. It spreads out the fun and also offers a little relief in the first part, where the tessitura tends to be a bit taxing over the course of a full recital.

A PDF download can be bought here:
http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/...6?aff_id=15680

Printed Sheet Music is available here:
http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/...6?aff_id=15680

Or you can buy it from the publisher, Cimarron Music:
http://www.cimarronmusic.com/bist-du-bei-mir-9030

[DaveBj]

Every time I see that title, I think of "Bei mir bist du schoen"

(That would make a heck of a tuba-euph quartet arrangement )

[58mark]

Is that the one where the 1st tuba part goes up to a high F? A band director gave that to a 3rd band student of mine and it gave him a heart attack

Band directors don't apparently look past the first page of the score....

[davewerden]

I checked, and the tuba part still goes up to an F. However, the publisher (a tuba player himself) and I decided to leave it. The euphonium parts go in melodies up to G and Ab, so the arrangement is not really geared for very young ensembles. His opinion is that most tuba players would just take the part down an octave if they were not comfortable in the written range. Even groups like the Canadian Brass do things like that, so it must be legal!

[dsurkin]

I checked, and the tuba part still goes up to an F. However, the publisher (a tuba player himself) and I decided to leave it. The euphonium parts go in melodies up to G and Ab, so the arrangement is not really geared for very young ensembles. His opinion is that most tuba players would just take the part down an octave if they were not comfortable in the written range. Even groups like the Canadian Brass do things like that, so it must be legal!

With an F tuba playing that part, it'd be the 8th partial, or with an Eb tuba, it'd be the 9th partial. Of course, with a BBb tuba playing the part it'd be the 12th partial, which requires a pro-level player.

[davewerden]

Maybe not quite pro level?? Bydo goes a minor 3rd higher, but that is getting into tough territory. When I was in college it would have been beyond at least half our players, but these days... who knows? Certainly in the euphonium realm there are some scary-good college-age players out there.