Harold Brasch - Carnival of Venice

[davewerden]

This is with band, from Brasch's LP of the International Music Camp band. I HAD to upload this track first!! It is Harold's own arrangement as is impressive. At around 4:00 a piccolo joins in with some counterpoint to the solo, and I'm pretty sure the player must have grabbed the wrong picc (like Db vs. C) or maybe picked one up that had gotten really cold. You'll see what I mean!

https://youtu.be/l9WpFUg0LUM

[Magikarp]

This is with band, from Brasch's LP of the International Music Camp band. I HAD to upload this track first!! It is Harold's own arrangement as is impressive. At around 4:00 a piccolo joins in with some counterpoint to the solo, and I'm pretty sure the player must have grabbed the wrong picc (like Db vs. C) or maybe picked one up that had gotten really cold. You'll see what I mean!

https://youtu.be/l9WpFUg0LUM

I didn’t hear anything unusual there. Horrendously out of tune, stilted, and vulgar is every piccolo, surely?

[John Morgan]

Funny you mention the piccolo part on this solo. I have this exact solo (obtained from Harold and the Navy Band) (I also have the LP that you have) and accompaniment, and this is the solo that I played during the final phase of a rotten cold one time. And the first section, the opening, was really rough (totally dry mouth from taking cold remedies) and caused me to go grab a trombone player's water bottle and give myself a few squirts after the opening section and during the band interlude, problem solved going forward. Moral: Always have water available when performing a solo (and I do to this day).

Anyhow, about the piccolo part, it is written that way, really. I have played this solo in 2 or 3 different places with 2 or 3 different bands, and the piccolo part always sounds the same. It is highly dissonant. Not sure if that was the intention, but that is the way it is. My latest band director wanted to change the part or eliminate it, but we kept it.

The cadenza near the end sound familiar? From one of the variations of Picchi's (arr. S. Mantia and edited by H. Brasch) Fantasie Originale. I included that in the version I played as well.

[davewerden]

Anyhow, about the piccolo part, it is written that way, really. I have played this solo in 2 or 3 different places with 2 or 3 different bands, and the piccolo part always sounds the same. It is highly dissonant. Not sure if that was the intention, but that is the way it is. My latest band director wanted to change the part or eliminate it, but we kept it.

Well, that's another case of "never assume" I guess. I'd love to see the score at that point and try to figure out why it grates on me so much! Thanks for clarifying!

[RickF]

Mr. Brasch sounds great, but I’m with Dave on the piccolo part. Hurts my ears in parts.

[John Morgan]

Well, that's another case of "never assume" I guess. I'd love to see the score at that point and try to figure out why it grates on me so much! Thanks for clarifying!

Wish granted, Dave!! Although the score is a condensed score, without the piccolo part. So I copied the pertinent page of the euphonium solo and the piccolo part so you could examine them. If you are looking at the euphonium part, the piccolo comes in at the end of the eighth measure after F. I didn't have anything to do for a couple hours, and this seemed like a fun project!

Euphonium Part:



Piccolo Part:



And here is a video of a MIDI compilation I did of the two parts (not great quality, I held the camera while the MIDI piece played, but it works). It is also slowed down for two reasons, 1) so you can hear the parts better, and 2) to spread out the pain on your ears:

[davewerden]

Thanks, John! That helps clear it up. It is at the very least "dangerous" writing, IMHO, because of the diversity of range and color. The live version still sounds worse, but I think a cold instrument could have accounted for that. Perhaps that line was inspired by "The Elephant and the Flea" (or "Fly" in some versions), but my first instinct as a conductor would be to have the flute try it, so it would sound an octave lower.

[dsurkin]

Thanks, John! That helps clear it up. It is at the very least "dangerous" writing, IMHO, because of the diversity of range and color. The live version still sounds worse, but I think a cold instrument could have accounted for that. Perhaps that line was inspired by "The Elephant and the Flea" (or "Fly" in some versions), but my first instinct as a conductor would be to have the flute try it, so it would sound an octave lower.

In "Bolero," Ravel scored a passage played by winds in the middle range, with the same rhythm played by flute (or piccolo, I forget) at a fixed interval above. The idea (whether scientifically derived or just instinctual by Ravel's extraordinary ear) was to strengthen one of the upper harmonics of the melody note, thus created a new instrument (i.e., the combo of the lower and upper voices) that had a ratio of overtones unlike any instrument that existed (this works with flutes and piccolos, since their tone is closest to a pure sine wave). Looking at part of this piccolo part, it seems like Brasch was doing something similar. If any of you have ever played a Hammond organ, it creates its different sound by choosing the ratio of overtones using a drawbar interface.

[adrian_quince]

At that wide a spread, minor thirds and any sixths will take on a dissonant quality, even if perfectly in tune. Strong overtones of a major 3rd and perfect fifth from the lower instrument will create audible seconds against the fundamental of the higher instrument. This is extremely noticeable when the euph is playing a low A against the picc C. The C# overtone is grating against the picc note quite audibly to me.

So, that's about 80% of the grating quality in Brasch recording. The other part is that the piccolo negotiated the first couple of bars of the solo very poorly, missing several intervals before settling in.

[highpitch]

And a great tone from that New Standard.

Reminds me a bit of Mr. Baglin's playing.

GD

[euphlight]

What was the date of the recording? I am wondering if this was an outdoor concert or possibly when The International Music Camp was doing performing tours. The Masonic Auditorium was built 1981. The Burdick Centre was built at 1994.

[davewerden]

What was the date of the recording? I am wondering if this was an outdoor concert or possibly when The International Music Camp was doing performing tours. The Masonic Auditorium was built 1981. The Burdick Centre was built at 1994.

Had to be late 1950's or in the 1960's.

[John Morgan]

What was the date of the recording? I am wondering if this was an outdoor concert or possibly when The International Music Camp was doing performing tours. The Masonic Auditorium was built 1981. The Burdick Centre was built at 1994.

The date on the record is October 1970. Harold recorded the solos over a period of six years during the weekly performances of the camp bands. Harold Brasch was a regular staff member at the International Music Camp (on the North Dakota/Canada border) from around 1960 up until his death in 1984. Where I live in South Dakota, I know several folks who attended the Camp regularly, and one of them, Bob Nelson, a retired band director, was on the staff as well. I play in a New Horizons Band in Rapid City with Bob, and he shares a lot of stories about Harold. Bob has asked me several times over the past few years to join the faculty at the International Music Camp, but I have decided not to. Harold was a regular fixture at the camp, and many young musicians came there to hear him play and study with him in Hut Number 20 (his teaching studio).

[davewerden]

Thanks, John! I hope it is OK if I take the first sentences, up to "1984", into the YouTube description to educate folks more thoroughly.

[John Morgan]

Sure!