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fanfare for the common man

Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 11:49 am
by clarke
hi all...just wondering if anyone has the tuba part for the copland fanfare that would be willing to email it to me...im playing it in a couple weeks and wont get the music until the day of so i would like to be prepared...thanks

clarke

Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 2:03 pm
by MikeMason
Pretty good piece except for the last chord...

Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 2:08 pm
by MikeMason
It would be perfect if the tuba was playing on the last chord...

Re: fanfare for the common man

Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 4:27 pm
by adam0408
clarke wrote:hi all...just wondering if anyone has the tuba part for the copland fanfare that would be willing to email it to me...im playing it in a couple weeks and wont get the music until the day of so i would like to be prepared...thanks

clarke
practice Bb (in the staff) up to D (in the staff) up to F (in the staff) I believe the rhythm is two sixteenth notes followed by a held note. Thats about all you will have to worry about at all.

oh and find a recording. You'll see what we mean.

Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 9:03 pm
by BVD Press
Some nice program notes can be found here:

http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:OX ... cd=1&gl=us

Of course that doesn't help with the tuba part, but it is always nice to know a little about what you will be playing.

Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 9:06 pm
by BVD Press
I have played it a while, but this highly illegal link will help:

http://laplace.compbio.ucsf.edu/~jchode ... angements/

Can someone confirm it is in the right key etc.?

Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 10:36 pm
by MartyNeilan
I have never played it myself :(
BUT, I have heard it played numerous times by High School allstate and festival type of groups, in addition to the pros.
The HS kids almost ALWAYS crack the first high F. I actually thought it was higher based on the number of difficulties until just viewing the (illegal) part online.
Make sure to listen, hear the intervals, and keep that F in your head. The opening F in the middle register should serve as good pitch reference.

Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 11:00 pm
by Alex C
MikeMason wrote:It would be perfect if the tuba was playing on the last chord...
Add the high D at the end. A definite improvement.

Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 12:26 am
by MikeMason
I think those sixteenths near the end are slurred if I remember correctly...

Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 1:33 am
by quinterbourne
slurs with dots (staccatos).

Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 2:07 am
by adam0408
bloke wrote:
Alex C wrote:
MikeMason wrote:It would be perfect if the tuba was playing on the last chord...
Add the high D at the end. A definite improvement.
A bari-sax would be far less likely to crack the concert "F"...
....and, it would sound like crap. High school students should even be able to play that without cracking it. However, most tuba players have been conditioned to think of that range as "high" which makes it unnecessarily difficult.

Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 10:20 am
by Alex C
adam0408 wrote:
bloke wrote:
Alex C wrote: Add the high D at the end. A definite improvement.
A bari-sax would be far less likely to crack the concert "F"...
....and, it would sound like crap. High school students should even be able to play that without cracking it. However, most tuba players have been conditioned to think of that range as "high" which makes it unnecessarily difficult.
It didn't sound like crap when I did it. I did not play it on the performance and only recommend it in the spirit of the thread. Still, it didn't sound like crap, especially when you consider what the conductor did to the other Copeland pieces on the program.

Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 10:53 am
by Bill Troiano
Wanna hear a FCM story? Back in the late 70's-early 80's (great gigging days on LI), I belonged to a brass ensemble on LI and we frequently played FCM. I also had recordings of other artists playing it (Woody Herman, Deodato, ELP) that I would play around my parents' house. My father would very frequently remark that he wanted FCM played at his funeral some day. It became kind of a family joke. Well, in Jan. 1990, my Dad passed away, and at the wake, my sister reminded me that Dad wanted FCM played at his funeral. I called the church and they wouldn't allow a recording played. It just happened to be a weekend where the Symphony of LI had a Sat. night concert. Of course, I had to get a sub, but I called the personnel mngr./bs. trbn., who was a close friend and asked him if he could get any of the brass players and pc to show up at the funeral mass, which was just before the concert dress rehearsal, to play FCM at my Dad's funeral mass. Well, the entire brass and pc section showed up, along with the conductor. Needless to say, it was very emotional walking down the aisle with the casket and FCM playing. I thought my Italian aunts and uncles would drop dead of heart attacks from the opening pc. Well, the brass ensemble nailed the piece and my buddy (sub), Jeff Furman, nailed the tuba part.

A week later, the orchestra played a dinner/benefit fund raiser concert. We opened with FCM. I didn't know what the program was until I arrived. Still basically greiving the loss of my Dad, I didn't know how I would handle playing FCM. Well, I was OK until the piece started. Forget the f's at the end of the 16th note arpeggios. I started sobbing right from the start. I made an honest attempt to try and play through it, but not much came out. At the end, the conductor just smiled at me, giving me a reassuring gesture that it was OK.

Not to digress from the original subject, it's not a difficult piece, but yeah! I've cracked an f more than once! Sorry if this was depressing to anyone!

Check out his 3rd Symphony

Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 10:54 am
by jeopardymaster
His Third Symphony features a note-for-note retelling of the Fanfare. Except he includes the tuba on the last note. Therefore, it should be played, as an update/correction from the composer.

Anyway, that's my story and no fellow brass player has challenged me on it the 3 times I've played it. Further, no conductor has, to my knowledge, even noticed.

Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 11:02 am
by MikeMason
I like a man who's willing to admit when he's made a mistake :D .Just the rationalization I've been looking for...

Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 11:03 am
by quinterbourne
Image

Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 5:49 am
by Alex C
[quote="Bill Troiano"]Wanna hear a FCM story? quote]

Beautiful story. Nice writing, too!