Tuba-Euphonium quartets-ensembles

[Davidus1]

How many of you are currently playing in a tuba-euphonium ensemble? I'd like to get one started in my area as we have several players but I haven't approached them yet.

[Mederlock]

I'd be interested in your guy's thoughts and advice as well, as this is something I'd like to start too

[davewerden]

I don't play in one now, but I did for about 20 years. It can be a lot of fun, especially if you all agree on the overall goal. If you just want to throw stuff together now and then for an Octubafest or something, that's fine. Or if you want to get really polished and do some serious recitals, that's fine too. But it's helpful if all 4 have the same idea.

There is about a ton-and-a-half of music out there already. Cimarron Music alone has 725 titles in the EETT format! Or you can do arrangements of your own. In our group, 3 of us contributed arrangements. These were somewhat tailored to the talents of our group (in some cases I had to modify them a bit to publish them so more groups could play them).

So go for it! It is great experience and you'll really hone your chamber ensemble skills.

[Davidus1]

The Atlantic Tuba Quartet was a tremendous group Dave! Big fan!

[Davidus1]

Mederlock - I am playing in a community band but we have several Tuba and Euph players. I'm going to try to get something informal started just for fun this fall and if things progress try to include the group in some type of brass recital or concert if possible. I think we could even substitute with a trombone if needed but I don't think that will be necessary. As Dave mentions....there is a LOT of music available. I appreciate the point about agreeing on goals. I am mostly interested in playing for fun but would like to be able to perform at church occasionally as well. I need to research the music to see if there is appropriate church music for quartets available which I'm sure there is. I wish you well in your quest! Let us know if you are able to get a group together.

[Jrpetty24]

At UTEP, We have one that is EETT setting, and it is a whole lot of fun. We do a brass day at our university for recruiting and community bonding purposes and as part of it, our brass department gets to do a mini recital of what our students and faculty are capable of. We were lucky enough to have our quartet perform the William Tell Overture, and got quite the reaction. Most people don't know what our instruments are capable of. William Tell was a blast and truly showcased some of what the Tuba and Euphonium can do. We Typically meet once a week when preparing music, and often have some random reading sessions. We do some serious music, like William Tell, and also Night on Bald Mountain(tuba 1 has an insane part btw), but also do more fun audience pieces like Pirates of the Caribbean medley. Next semester we will be looking at more serious and Tuba quartet specific/originals and getting on the university's weekly student recital. Like mentioned by others, a common goal is ideal, but don't be afraid to venture outside the normal routine of your group.

[RickF]

I'm not in one now but some years ago, Dr. Michael O'Connor from PBA university organized a group with 4 euphs and 4 tubas. Carlyle Weber and one of Michael's students played first part, we other two second and/or third parts. This was a lot of fun. Hearing your pitch is a smaller group is easier and I learned to listen better. We played some of Winston Morris' arrangements since Michael O'Connor got his BA at Tenn Tech.

[Davidus1]

At UTEP, We have one that is EETT setting, and it is a whole lot of fun. We do a brass day at our university for recruiting and community bonding purposes and as part of it, our brass department gets to do a mini recital of what our students and faculty are capable of. We were lucky enough to have our quartet perform the William Tell Overture, and got quite the reaction. Most people don't know what our instruments are capable of. William Tell was a blast and truly showcased some of what the Tuba and Euphonium can do. We Typically meet once a week when preparing music, and often have some random reading sessions. We do some serious music, like William Tell, and also Night on Bald Mountain(tuba 1 has an insane part btw), but also do more fun audience pieces like Pirates of the Caribbean medley. Next semester we will be looking at more serious and Tuba quartet specific/originals and getting on the university's weekly student recital. Like mentioned by others, a common goal is ideal, but don't be afraid to venture outside the normal routine of your group.

This sounds like a great idea. Sounds like some challenging music as well. We will have a mixed bag with the quartet we are forming. There will be a mix of experienced and inexperienced players so we'll start with moderate level difficulty at most initially. thanks for sharing!

[Davidus1]

I'm not in one now but some years ago, Dr. Michael O'Connor from PBA university organized a group with 4 euphs and 4 tubas. Carlyle Weber and one of Michael's students played first part, we other two second and/or third parts. This was a lot of fun. Hearing your pitch is a smaller group is easier and I learned to listen better. We played some of Winston Morris' arrangements since Michael O'Connor got his BA at Tenn Tech.

Rick - Were the arrangements made for that size/type of group or were you simply doubling parts on traditional quartet music. I'm sure that is a tremendous sound with a group that size!

[Davidus1]

When in the Army Band I played in a few quartets and also Brass Quintet. All were a lot of fun. I appreciate the feedback and the great stories. Good stuff!

[Davidus1]

I don't play in one now, but I did for about 20 years. It can be a lot of fun, especially if you all agree on the overall goal. If you just want to throw stuff together now and then for an Octubafest or something, that's fine. Or if you want to get really polished and do some serious recitals, that's fine too. But it's helpful if all 4 have the same idea.

There is about a ton-and-a-half of music out there already. Cimarron Music alone has 725 titles in the EETT format! Or you can do arrangements of your own. In our group, 3 of us contributed arrangements. These were somewhat tailored to the talents of our group (in some cases I had to modify them a bit to publish them so more groups could play them).

So go for it! It is great experience and you'll really hone your chamber ensemble skills.

Are any of these recordings available in either mp3 or cd?

[RickF]

Rick - Were the arrangements made for that size/type of group or were you simply doubling parts on traditional quartet music. I'm sure that is a tremendous sound with a group that size!

Most of the arrangements were for quartets so we had to double up. One piece I remember that we did was "Contrapunctus IX". A great fugue arr. by Mike Forbes.

[Davidus1]

Thanks Rick! I appreciate that.

[davewerden]

Are any of these recordings available in either mp3 or cd?

If you go to Cimarron's site and search by instrumentation, for Tuba Quartet (EETT), you'll see many have MP3 files right there.
The Atlantic Tuba Quartet album is out of print, but I have a couple irons in the fire to work on a re-publication on CD.

[Davidus1]

If you go to Cimarron's site and search by instrumentation, for Tuba Quartet (EETT), you'll see many have MP3 files right there.
The Atlantic Tuba Quartet album is out of print, but I have a couple irons in the fire to work on a re-publication on CD.

I did notice that there were mp3s on the site. I hope you can get the re-publication going. That would be great.