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Hello everyone! I bought this piece just now and I saw the instrumentation. My question is does this piece really require that much brass?

To play it the way Stauss intended it, unequivicabally yes.


Chuck"played it, hyperventilated, LOVED it"Jackson

Our Wind Symphony is playing this in our next concert and yes that is the correct instrumentation

i played it my first semester in college with our orchestra brass section and it requires every last brass and percussion player. it's really a fantastic piece and both tuba parts are great.

-casey

TexTuba wrote:Hello everyone! I bought this piece just now and I saw the instrumentation. My question is does this piece really require that much brass? It has as follows:

6 Trumpets
8 Horns
6 Trombones
2 Tubas
2 Sets of Tympani

Thanks!

While that is the correct instrumentation as shown in the score (as mentioned above), and to have it sound the way that Strauss intended, yes – that is the correct instrumentation required to successfully perform this work as well.

However, at times such forces are not available, and the following reduction can be made.

Trumpets
Strauss wrote the work for trumpets as if there were two sections, each comprised of three players. Thus, there is not as much overlap as found in some of the other sections. It is possible, however, if one were to study the score, to find a way that all the voices could remain by being rewritten into other trumpet parts. This would require an extensive rewrite of the entire trumpet component of the score.

Alternatively, though, the following should be noted
Trumpet VI, with only a couple of minor and short exceptions, doubles Trumpet III. Therefore, Trumpet VI can be omitted.

Horns
4 horns rather than 8.

Horns I & III and Horns II & IV are doublings (so use only I & III)
Horns V & VII and Horns VI and VIII are doublings (so use only V & VII)

Thus, you have a section of 4 horns rather than 8.

Trombones
Trombones are written with a lot of doubling back and forth throughout the parts, so some score study and rewriting of any “missing bitsâ€

WOW, where did you buy it? I was told by Boosey & Hawkes that it was available ONLY as a rental and royalties must be paid for every performance. ...and that the originals that they sell prints from were lost somewhere in Europe. Please let me know where you bought it (cuz I like it and wan'it!)

j