Mute in UFO concerto?

[strommj]

Hey, I'm going to perform the UFO concerto by Johan De Meij next week on Monday, and I'm now contemplating doing what Jason Ham did in his performance with the brass band. In the one line in the 3rd movement, he plays with a straight mute, and it actually has a really nice affect to it.

Does anybody know anything of this? I can't remember if i've heard if that's what De Meij wanted or not. I have a feeling that was intended, however, seeing how the piece was written for Jason Ham, it makes sense.

Here is the video where I see Jason Ham doing this, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ub1rBsz3d4A (it's about at 14:27).

I have a straight mute, so I could easily do this.

Thoughts?

[davewerden]

I'm guessing that is written, but I don't know for sure. However, I find most composers are open to reasonable experimentation with effects like this.

Personally I have mixed feelings about it. On the one had, I think the open, soft euphonium sound contrasted against the muted brass would be nice. On the other hand, the soloist has lots of chance to show the variety of the open euphonium sound, so matching the muted brass band might be a good choice too.

[strommj]

Thanks for the reply! This will be played with piano, so I guess taking those things into consideration, it wouldn't make as much sense.

Also, In my part with piano at least, it's not written