Brass Quartet (2 cnt, hn, euph)

dwerden · Post by **dwerden** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 10:03 am

A brass quartet with the instrumentation of 2 cornets, horn, and euphonium is a fairly standard ensemble in Europe, but has not caught on to any great extent in the USA. Yet I think it is a very viable group. I have played in one for a time and really enjoyed the facility of the smaller ensemble (compared to a standard brass quintet), and of course it is nice to have an ensemble that has a solid seat for a euphonium.

I have a blog post about the brass quartet:

http://www.dwerden.com/blog3/display_bl ... 826F67FDF5

Can anyone tell me good sources of sheet music for this particular ensemble? I have a few listed on the blog post that I could find, but I'm still trying to figure out where one can buy all those great transcriptions that are written for brass quartet. Any suggestions are welcome (either here or as a blog response).

I'd like to generate some more interest in brass quartets among U.S. players. Thanks for any tips.

Naptown Tuba · Post by **Naptown Tuba** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 10:59 am

I put a quartet like this together a few years ago. Most of the music had (for the 3rd part) trombone with horn transcribed sub. parts. I got most of it from:
1.Robt. King/ a lot of the classical things.
2.Kendor Music/ Lennie Niehaus for jazz
3.Musicians Publications/Ovation Plus Series & Gazebo Series/Jazz and Marches
4.Music Express/Encore Brass Serires/ Jazz & Blues
5.Music Express/Festive Brass Series/ Mostly Classical for Weddings.
6.Carol Press/Sacred
7.I'm sure there are others that I'm omitting.
I had 2 outstanding trumpets. But the problem stemmed from the fact that, in a quartet, the trumpets seemingly had no breaks in the music (whereas, in a quintet, many times it's like a version of quartet round robin; where you have at least 4 musicians playing at any given time - with each person getting a break now and then. In the quartet, they had total face time on their instruments; After just a few pieces, they were spitting cotton. I had to increse the talking time in between the numbers to allow recovery. I was on euph. and loved my parts; The arrangements didn't seem to bother me. But you have to do what ever it takes so your lead guys don't start cracking/missing notes. It was toughest when we did just background music gigs - required no talking. My wife would say "Why do you take so long between songs?" She didn't get it.

NickJones · Post by **NickJones** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 11:04 am

Gilbert Vinter , wrote some brilliant quartets in the 1960's which were used by great effect by the GUS Band quartet , I am sure there were three Fancy's Knell , Alla Burlesca and Elergy and Rondo really testing music and stand up well now , I remember playing an arrangement by William Rimmer of Ein Klein Nachmusik by Mozart , used it in loads of quartet competitions.
just music in scotland carry loads of these quartets in stock , give them a try ( www.justmusicuk.com )

NickJones · Post by **NickJones** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 11:07 am

Josef Horovitz - Variations on a theme of Paganini ( 24th caprice) r.smith publication

Steve Inman · Post by **Steve Inman** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 12:29 pm

Brassworks 4 (t'bone instead of horn for the 3rd part) has some nice material, but you'd have to transpose the one part.

Regards,

Naptown Tuba · Post by **Naptown Tuba** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 6:38 pm

Euph. usually plays in its normal range, which could also be covered by another trombone. It's pretty much the bass line of the quartet all covered within the bass clef.

BVD Press · Post by **BVD Press** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 7:00 pm

Steve Inman wrote:Brassworks 4 (t'bone instead of horn for the 3rd part) has some nice material, but you'd have to transpose the one part.

Regards,

I don't want to speak for them, but if you ask nicely they might transpose the part for you!

I have a set of 8 quartets in the BVD Press that might interest some people:

Title
Composer
Arranger
Publisher
Price
Buy
Search results found in category Mixed Brass Quartet
BVD73 8 Brass Quartets various Diller/Doughty BVD Press $20.00
1. Farewell to the Forest - Mendelssohn
2. Hark! Apollo Strikes the Lyre - H. R. Bishop
3. Hail, Smiling Morn. - R. Spofforth
4. O Sacrum Convivium - I. B. Miller
5. Sleep and Dream. Serenade. - George W. Morgan
6. The Wanderer - A. Fesca
7. The Sea Hath its Pearls - Ciro Pinsuti
8. Rondo - H. R. Bishop
Part 1 - Cornet/Trumpet in Bb
Part 2 - Cornet/Trumpet in Bb or Horn in F
Part 3 - Horn in F or Trombone/Euphonium
Part 4 - Trombone/Euphonium

I created the alternate part maximize the possibilities! Part can be read down the octave on tuba. These pieces are fun and challenging, but there nothing overly difficult in any of the 8.

JTJ · Post by **JTJ** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 9:40 pm

Dave -- it's ironic that you should bring this up. I noticed some pieces for sale on Steve Mead's web site which were scored for euph in brass quartet. He kindly answered my email asking about them. I bought two, sight unseen, because I knew the composers, Philip Sparke and John Golland. To make a long story short, a wind ensemble I play in is putting together a chamber music concert this spring, breaking apart in small groups for the concert. We're going to do one of these quartets. Our only concession is that we'll use a French horn instead of the E flat horn, but it still will be conical brass, and hopefully more or less true to the sound.

John