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From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Raymond Horton Sent: Mon 13-Feb-06 21:19 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Finale] Scoring for Band - now overplaying brass, more >This just reminds me of an old recording I heard a few times (cannot >find it now - though I haven't searched extensively) of Sousa Marches >- played under the direction of his descendants. It was so much >lighter and more transparent than the versions with which we are >familiar that it sounded almost Mozartean. Part of this was a result >of scoring (fewer instruments per section) and part from >interpretation. Mark your score "Non-Bombastico"! > >Not only that, Chuck, but the (low) brass instruments were MUCH smaller in >Sousa's days than they are now. I soloed a couple years ago on a double-bell >euphonium that used to belong to one of Sousa's Euphonium players and it was a >"pea shooter" of the first order--smaller bore than today's "student" models! >Many of the Eb tubas of that vintage were the same bore size as my Willson >Euphonium pitched a FIFTH higher. Simone Mantia's trombone was smaller bore >than a current King 2B. My experience with high brass is not as extensive, >but my guess is that there were both Cornets and Trumpets in the old bands, >which also would have taken some of the edge off the sound as well. One of >Harvey Phillips's biggest gripes with current orchestral brass playing, esp. >in the trombones/tuba, is the sheer SIZE of the instruments and the associated >volume. Have you seen live performances with the plastic shields up isolating >the brass? Some of those things they call 6/4 tubas are scary.! ..more than one famous orchestral player blew their chops out from playing those things. They need to be licensed. > >I would also talk about bass trombones, but Louisville is not far from >Indianapolis, and Mr. Horton might wrap his triple-trigger bi-valve low BBB >XL-bore nitro-cylindrical confabulator around my size 16.5 neck seven or eight >times. > >Jim W. > > You know what happens when you "assume" don't you? Yeah. Speaking of Sousa marches, as an example, I got so tired of waiting for conductors, or first trumpet players, to do _anything_ toward performance practice, (brass lay out second strain first time, ditto last strain first time, etc.) that I just started speaking up, every time we get one, and suggesting it myself. Bravo! And, as far as overplaying brass in general - we used to have a trumpet player like that - but we don't any more. We shipped him up to teach at a large music-factory/university a few miles to your southeast. That's all I'll say. Understood. That says it all. Not sure if it's become any different with the passage of time. (My bi-valve low BBB XL-bore nitro-cylindrical confabulator only has two triggers, anyway.) http://www.orchestralibrary.com/instruments/Strandbone3.jpg Check this out--is it a contrabass? If so, am I right that it's a totally different setup/wrap than the usual contra? You know you may not have us to kick around for long? This is the worst contract mess yet - our Board of Directors seems to be hell-bent on Chapter Seven (full liquidation) and trying to replace it in a year or so with something smaller and cheaper. They pretended to negotiate for three sessions, then pulled their "offer" from the table. Our contract doesn't even expire until August! Right now they say they won't even go to mediation unless we agree to a smaller orchestra first. They want something like Owensboro (a small city in Kentucky) that buses in kids from IU to fill out every concert. Sigh - This orchestra has a 70 year history, and they seem to be ready to give it up that easily. Sad stuff...I met Art Hicks in 1970 or so through Lee Richardson, who used to live in Louisville before he went to Florida, first for the Florida Symphony (now gone, yes?) then to Disney because the pay was so much better. Art had either just gotten back from Israel or was about to go--can't remember. I was at Indiana U (played a lot, studied with H. Phillips, but was not a music major) and lived across the hall from one of your bass players--Mike Chmielewski (or however he spells it) & also knew his wife Sue. Again assuming, I hope they're still together. One never knows! Jim W. http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060121/NEWS01/601210418 http://www.savethelo.org/ _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
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