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Thread: Holst Second Suite in F - March

  1. #1
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    Holst Second Suite in F - March

    As part of our last concert we played one of my favorite pieces - Holst Second Suite in 'F' for Military Band - Gustav Holst. It's been seven years since I played it last but I think I did okay. I tried to observe articulations as written with 8 measure phrases and not slurring but using legato tonguing as Fredrick Fennell suggested. This is just an excerpt:

    Holst (March) Euph solo:
    Rick Floyd
    Miraphone 5050 - Warburton BJ / RF mpc
    YEP-641S (recently sold)
    Doug Elliott - 102 rim; I-cup; I-9 shank


    "Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
    Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
    El Cumbanchero (Raphael Hernandez, arr. Naohiro Iwai)
    Chorale and Shaker Dance
    (John Zdechlik)

  2. #2
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    Again Rick, wonderful.

    Dennis

  3. #3
    Good job, Rick! The balance was very good, which is not always easy. For me it depended a lot on where I sat in the band and where my bell was pointed. How we you situated during this performance?

    We were sometimes a little to the conductor's right-of-center in the CG Band, which had our bells pointing back a bit. So for solos like this one (if I had the solo memorized) I would turn my body so the bell was pointing forward a bit, and that seemed to help me get out to the audience. Of course I could not watch the conductor that way, but for short solos that was not a problem.

    You played with more separation that I use on that solo. I like the smoothness of the slurs I use, but in the original song this is based on, there was a word or syllable on each note, so separation makes sense, now that I think about it. Food for thought!
    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
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  4. #4
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    Thanks Dennis and Dave.

    The 3 euphs are in the third row right of Director's center and to the right of the horns. I sit to the left of the other two euphs so next to the 4th horn (there are actually 6 horns). I have this solo memorized but when played from memory I sometimes forget to use 3rd valve for concert 'G'... which I need to use for the M5050 for proper pitch.

    I always thought that when I memorized music that I pictured the notes on the staff. Evidentally it's muscle memory in my case.
    Rick Floyd
    Miraphone 5050 - Warburton BJ / RF mpc
    YEP-641S (recently sold)
    Doug Elliott - 102 rim; I-cup; I-9 shank


    "Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
    Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
    El Cumbanchero (Raphael Hernandez, arr. Naohiro Iwai)
    Chorale and Shaker Dance
    (John Zdechlik)

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by RickF View Post
    I always thought that when I memorized music that I pictured the notes on the staff. Evidentally it's muscle memory in my case.
    Interesting. I THINK in my case it is a combination of the two, plus some mentally-noted interval relationships mixed in (i.e. "the next two notes are part of a major arpeggio" or "the next note is down a 5th" etc.).
    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
    Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
    YouTube: dwerden
    Facebook: davewerden
    Twitter: davewerden
    Instagram: davewerdeneuphonium

  6. #6
    Bravo!!
    Euph Loosh
    Imperial by Boosey & Hawkes 4-valve Euphonium (mid-1950's)
    MPs: Kosikup 1 1/2, Bowman BB2 Euro shank, Denis Wick 4AM; Marcus Bonna case

  7. #7
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    Very nice job, Rick. It seems that piece comes around about every 4 or 5 years for me. Sure is a nice one. I think this is the piece where I learned to be able to consistently hit the G note on my horn. In fact, when I play a G on other pieces, I frequently think about what that note feels like and sounds like on the Holst solo. I tend to play this solo more like Dave describes as well, with a more flowing and slurred rendition, but your presentation is equally nice and interesting. Too bad Holst didn't write way more pieces for euphonium solos.
    John Morgan
    The U.S. Army Band (Pershing's Own) 1971-1976
    Adams E3 Custom Series Euphonium, 1956 B&H Imperial Euphonium,
    1973 F. E. Olds & Son Studio Model T-31 Baritone
    Adams TB1 Tenor Trombone, Yamaha YBL-822G Bass Trombone
    Year Round Except Summer:
    Kingdom of the Sun (KOS) Concert Band, Ocala, FL (Euphonium)
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  8. #8
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    Thanks John. Yes I really like Holst's writing too.

    You, know I've played this solo for 3 or 4 different directors and all of them said they liked it with less sluring. Playing with Fred Dart's band was my first experience with Holst 2. One Dir said, 'after all it is a march'.
    Rick Floyd
    Miraphone 5050 - Warburton BJ / RF mpc
    YEP-641S (recently sold)
    Doug Elliott - 102 rim; I-cup; I-9 shank


    "Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
    Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
    El Cumbanchero (Raphael Hernandez, arr. Naohiro Iwai)
    Chorale and Shaker Dance
    (John Zdechlik)

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by RickF View Post
    You, know I've played this solo for 3 or 4 different directors and all of them said they liked it with less sluring. Playing with Fred Dart's band was my first experience with Holst 2. One Dir said, 'after all it is a march'.
    I like it both ways, now that I have heard your alternative. This gets back to the age-old discussion of notation limitations. Suppose Holst wanted it slurred, as I usually play it - he would have written it just as he did. And suppose he wanted it more separated but with a sense of overall line as Rick played it - he still might have written it just as he did! I've seen plenty of examples where a longer slur is obviously not intended as a true slur, but rather as a phrasing mark. In some cases you'll see "sub-slurs" underneath, where a couple of 1/8 notes might be slurred even though they already sit beneath a two-measure slur. That implies (strongly) that the overall slur is not a slur-slur but is a phrase-slur.

    Of course if your directors say they like the separated version better, that is a good reason to go that way! One could envision a problem if you had a euphonium player with a strong ego who wanted it one way and a conductor who wanted it another way. Then we get into a different philosophical discussion: does a 32-bar solo within a piece give the player editorial rights over and above conductor, vs. a player who is standing out front playing an entire solo who may have ideas different from the conductor. But that is a topic for a different thread - we don't want to hijack this one.
    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
    Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
    YouTube: dwerden
    Facebook: davewerden
    Twitter: davewerden
    Instagram: davewerdeneuphonium

  10. Beautiful Rick! Very well done!

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