TubeNet

Zach Collins
http://www.swmusic.org/recordings/kraft.html

Couldn't help noticing the conspicuous absence of Encounters XI from the list, so ran a search and found this at presser.com:

Encounters XI: The Demise of Suriyodhaya for English Horn and Percussion (1998) -- 20'
Not yet released (in prep)
Commission Information: Carolyn Hove and Raynor Carroll
Premiere Information: Carolyn Hove, English horn and Raynor Carroll, percussion, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group; Japan America Theater, Los Angeles, CA; March 1, 1999
Additional Information: Published: 114-41218

Movements:
• Peace of God
• Strategy
• Suriodhaya's Dream
• Tactics

Recording:
Encounters XI: The Demise of Suriyodhaya for English Horn and Percussion
Crystal Records CD 329:
Carolyn Hove, English horn; Raynor Carroll, percussion.

I am not sure I could take 20 minutes of English Horn and Percussion. WOW!!

I own the set and enjoy it, but I can't say that it's my favorite recording of Encounters II. It's technically fine, but seems kind of bland, passionless and textbook to me. Zach doens't bring anything new to the piece for me. It's a half-minute shorter than Bobo's recording, but feels longer due to an overall lack of energy.

I saw his live performance of it with Southwest Chamber Music in L.A. and felt pretty much the same way about that.

Some of the percussion pieces are a treat, however.

The project is an interesting one, and a project I was thrilled to be a part of. We all worked very closely with William Kraft. Before the live performance I met with Mr. Kraft for a couple hours performing the piece with him and discussing what he wanted. Mr. Kraft is a very generous man, and humbled to know the contribution Encounters II has been to the tuba's repertoire. If you hear the recording you will find there are some differences between what I play and what is written. These were Mr. Kraft's edits. I would be happy to post these edits if anyone is interested.

The recording is currently available from http://www.swmusic.org" target="_blank" target="_blank, but I suspect it will be on ITunes soon, as the rest of Southwest Chamber Music's catalog is there.

I just had the pleasure of listening to Zach Collins’ recording of the William Kraft Encounters II for the 3rd time today. Now here is the disclaimer, Zach was my student for 4 years when he was at TCU. Consequently, one might say that any praise given here would be biased and that might be true except that anyone who has studied with me for that long would probably agree that while I will always give a hearty hug for a job well done I don’t just through out empty praise. I am so impressed with this recording and Zach’s playing that I can’t begin to express my feelings! This is truly a world-class performance. I know that music is certainly a very subjective business, but I’m really confused about the criticism from an earlier post. BRAVO ZACH! You have worked as hard as anyone I know and deserve all praise you can get for this truly fine musical offering.

To negatively criticize this performance and compare it to Roger Bobo’s recording is natural. It’s not unlike the many comments that I’ve heard about all of the recordings of the Vaughan Williams other than John Fletcher’s. Though Fletcher’s VW wasn’t the first recording, it is the one that has made the strongest impression on us and it is the one by which all others are compared. I was a young student when Fletcher and Bobo made their recordings of these pieces. We were all stunned that the tuba could be played that way! These recordings, along with Harvey Phillips’ recordings and yes, even Bill Bell & His Tuba were the fuel that has lead to all of the wonderful music and recordings that we have today for our instrument. It is also important to remember that Bobo recorded the Kraft twice 7 or 8 years apart because he felt that he had something different to say after having time to let the music and his own thoughts mature.

I remember a conversation I had with Jim Self many years ago where we discussing our mutual love of jazz. Jim said, “one of the things that I love about playing jazz is that whatever I do is mine and if I play the Vaughan Williams everyone is going to compare it to Fletcher or Bobo”. There is also the other side of the story where an alto sax player walks out of a jazz club one evening and a patron begins to attack him and tell him about his extreme lack of creativity and then says, “you’ve got nothing original. You sound just like Charlie Parker”. After patiently listening to this, the sax player calmly looks at him, takes out his horn, hands it to the patron and says, “Here lets hear you sound like Charlie Parker”!!

I think the important thing to remember here is that beauty is in the eye of the beholder! Personally, I think it is great that we have more than one recording of the Kraft, Vaughan Williams, Hindemith, Wilder, etc. to listen to and be able enjoy from the perspective of different interpretations. What a boring world it would be if we didn’t have these differences. For those of us who grew up with nothing to hear but Asleep in the Deep, and Tubby the Tuba it is a great day when we can debate the differences of interpretation in the Kraft Encounters!! And for those of you who are teachers, you can appreciate it when I say, it’s even better when the debate is about one of your own students.

GREAT JOB ZACH!! I'm very proud of you and I miss seeing you every week my friend!

Richard Murrow