TubeNet

Who started the tuba quartet? My guess is that Harvey Phillips had something to do with it but I am not sure. If you know what year it was created and why I would be interested in knowing.

Thanks

The first recorded tuba quartet might be from the Hoffnung Music Festival of 1956, An arrangement of the Chopin Mazurka No.47 in A minor (arr. Abrams) was performed with Gerard Hoffnung playing the "sub-octo-contrabass tuba" as I believe it was referred to on the album notes. I believe the instrument he used was the Sander CCC tuba that now resides in the hills of Texas.

I have always held that the first recorded tuba ensemble was from the 1951 movie, The Day the Earth Stood Still in "Gort's Theme." It sounds as if it may be a tuba trio, not a quartet, and performed on BBb or CC tubas.

When I was in school, Mr. Phillips was promoting tuba ensembles at every college where he gave a clinic and there were enough tuba players to make an ensemble. He carried the Kenneth Cook "Introduction and Rondino" around as kind of an instant quartet, though it is certainly not a cake walk to read.

It seems logical to me that the tuba quartet could have been in existance earlier as an outgrowth of the British Brass Band. It certainly makes sense that 2 Eb's and 2 BBb's would have been a good place to start. I'd be interested to know more about this possibility.

Some of the earliest original tuba ensemble pieces were by William Presser. He had a trio, a quartet and a sextet (all for for CC/BBb tubas) that I have played at one time or another. Interesting pieces.

Alex C wrote:The first recorded tuba quartet might be from the Hoffnung Music Festival of 1956, An arrangement of the Chopin Mazurka No.47 in A minor (arr. Abrams) was performed with Gerard Hoffnung playing the "sub-octo-contrabass tuba" as I believe it was referred to on the album notes. I believe the instrument he used was the Sander CCC tuba that now resides in the hills of Texas.

This is trivia...nevertheless...I believe that Mr. Hoffnung played a standard size BBb or Eb for the Chopin quartet. The Sander CCC was reserved for the "Variations on Annie Laurie" which was orchestrated primarily with extreme low and high instruments (the subcontrabass tuba taking the prize, of course).

That's why "Annie Laurie" is the first thing that I played when I had the pleasure of trying the Sander CCC.

snorlax wrote: I am wondering if the first tuba quartet was Eric Ball's "Friendly Giants" in 1960 or '61? Given brass band instrumentation, it might stand to reason that the first TUBA quartet would be the 2 Eb and 2 BBb basses.

Was the first American quartet of consequence Frank Lynn Payne's? That, as I recall, is for four tubas rather than tubaeuph.

Brass Banders: Were there tuba quartets before Eric Ball's piece??

Dr. William Presser's Suite for Three Tubas, Suite for Six Tubas and Seranade for Four Tubas (the last two available from Robert King) were all published before 1970. I believe the Payne Quartet was published in 1971.

The "American quartet of consequence" is up to the listener but the OP asked for "who started..."

A publication date of 1960-ish for Friendly Giants trumps them all. I've never played, heard, or seen it. Can anyone beat 1960-61?

HOWEVER, since the OP asked about tuba quartet beginnings, maybe someone can tell us who performed/composed for the Tuba/Euph mixed quartet first. That instrumentation is now the standard quartet and I will hazard a guess that somebody from Tennessee Tech, I.U. or the U. of Miami might be able to contribute some info on that.