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I've noticed in my reasonably short time on this forum that we spend a lot of time talking about equipment, but I thought it would be nice to have a talk about our favourite solos from the brass band, orchestral, and wind band repertoires. I'm hoping to find some new music, and hopefully we can all find some new things to practice!
To start us off I will offer this solo that opens the sixth variation of Vinter's "Variations on a Ninth", which I think was composed to be the test piece for the 1964 Nationals:
https://youtu.be/i_lMYefOBqw?t=468
Here it is played by the winning band, the player is the great Trevor Groom on presumably some sort of Boosey Imperial. This came to mind as I just played through the part for the first time today. I've kind of slept on this piece, but when I was going through my Google Drive I found the part from an aborted lockdown band recording project, so thought I would give it a whirl. It's a really satisfying solo to play, although it is fraught with much danger (as the slow stuff often is!). I wonder what a modern band playing this piece on modern instruments might sound like? On this German Sovereign the solo worked perfectly fine, but how would it sound on something huge like the Miraphone 5050 or something really dark sounding like the 642 Neo? It's very different from the sort of big euphonium solo you get in contemporary brass band repertoire, which are often cadenzas relying on range, volume, and cramming as many notes in each beat as possible.
Another solo of interest to me tonight is a rare orchestral solo from the opening of Mahler's 7th Symphony:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d6Y...l=BrianBindner
Mahler actually wrote for "Tenorhorn", which would be a tenor saxhorn of the traditional Austro-German front-valved oval-shaped instrument, so perhaps a better analogue would be the baritone horn. It works perfectly well on euphonium though, especially when we consider that Mahler chose to write this solo for Tenorhorn rather than trombone or regular horn is to evoke the sound of a military band. To my ears at least, the modern euphonium is more removed from the orchestral sound than the baritone horn, which (especially when played by a doubling trombonist) can sound a bit like a limp hybrid of the two. Mahler 7 is a beautiful piece, so if anyone has a spare hour it's worth a listen in full!
P.S. I wasn't sure if this was entirely the correct place to post this - as I'd like to gear the discussion towards the actual dots rather than the performances I thought it made most sense to go here!
To start us off I will offer this solo that opens the sixth variation of Vinter's "Variations on a Ninth", which I think was composed to be the test piece for the 1964 Nationals:
https://youtu.be/i_lMYefOBqw?t=468
Here it is played by the winning band, the player is the great Trevor Groom on presumably some sort of Boosey Imperial. This came to mind as I just played through the part for the first time today. I've kind of slept on this piece, but when I was going through my Google Drive I found the part from an aborted lockdown band recording project, so thought I would give it a whirl. It's a really satisfying solo to play, although it is fraught with much danger (as the slow stuff often is!). I wonder what a modern band playing this piece on modern instruments might sound like? On this German Sovereign the solo worked perfectly fine, but how would it sound on something huge like the Miraphone 5050 or something really dark sounding like the 642 Neo? It's very different from the sort of big euphonium solo you get in contemporary brass band repertoire, which are often cadenzas relying on range, volume, and cramming as many notes in each beat as possible.
Another solo of interest to me tonight is a rare orchestral solo from the opening of Mahler's 7th Symphony:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d6Y...l=BrianBindner
Mahler actually wrote for "Tenorhorn", which would be a tenor saxhorn of the traditional Austro-German front-valved oval-shaped instrument, so perhaps a better analogue would be the baritone horn. It works perfectly well on euphonium though, especially when we consider that Mahler chose to write this solo for Tenorhorn rather than trombone or regular horn is to evoke the sound of a military band. To my ears at least, the modern euphonium is more removed from the orchestral sound than the baritone horn, which (especially when played by a doubling trombonist) can sound a bit like a limp hybrid of the two. Mahler 7 is a beautiful piece, so if anyone has a spare hour it's worth a listen in full!
P.S. I wasn't sure if this was entirely the correct place to post this - as I'd like to gear the discussion towards the actual dots rather than the performances I thought it made most sense to go here!
Resurgam does have some lovely euphonium moments, a nice short cadenza but I think the real challenge is the short slow melody that comes after it!
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