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For a low brass ensemble consisting of 3 tenor trombones, 1 bass trombone and 1 tuba (or substituting euph for one of the tenor 'bones), what pieces, arrangements, and excerpts can you suggest?

Example of an excerpt: sections of Mahler 2

It seems like a lot of Wagner "Ring" excerpts would fit. If one trombone can slide over to euph, then The Planets, esp. Mars & Jupiter.

It's for only 3 trombones and tuba, but "Être ou ne pas être" by Henri Tomasi is a really cool piece of music and one of my favorites.

bloke wrote:Get rid of any one person, and there's quite an array of trombone quartets from which to choose.

Yes (he humbly replied), there is plenty of fine music for trombone quartet or 3 trombones and tuba. That's why I posted the question about four trombones + tuba.

There's one here:
http://uhaweb.hartford.edu/murtha/bone.html" target="_blank

I think this would work:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hlCLLwYBKs" target="_blank
http://basstrombone.nl/shop/sheetmusic/ ... bones.aspx" target="_blank

Looks like you've found a niche. Maybe you could set some things yourself. There are lots of 5 part choral pieces out there, probably more than a few could be adapted.

bloke wrote:

Steve Marcus wrote:

bloke wrote:Get rid of any one person, and there's quite an array of trombone quartets from which to choose.

Will ALL FIVE people ALWAYS be able to get together? What about a "spare player" and rotating parts with an "odd man out/musical chairs" situation?

Truth be told, Bloke, the tubist is trying to squeeze his way in with a pre-existing, but occasional trombone quartet (which plays seriously, but only for their own enjoyment and improvement as a section of a larger ensemble). The best strategy is to be armed with a pile of charts for that instrumentation.

Time to fire up Sibelius and get busy.

Mahler 6 finale

Check out some of the arrangements played by Ben van Dijk on bass trombone. Bastasia is for Bass trombone AND tuba solo, with trombone quartet (though you need to show up with an extra trombone player, you should have the basis 'bone player on board)

Ben has several pieces written/arranged for tuba or bass trombone with trombone quartet.

There are a lot, Trombone Quintet stuff. http://www.posaunenquintett-berlin.de/3p5ensen.html Not a rarity in Europe I don't think, I have at least 15-20 arrangements bought online (Warwick Music etc...)

Thanks for the suggestions, and please keep 'em coming.

A Google search resulted in a listing of arrangements for 5 trombones at Hickey's Music. Unfortunately, their site offers no way to sample the arrangements--no watermarked PDFs nor 30-second MP3 samples. I wish that more online merchants would facilitate examining their music for sale, especially when they have a "no return" policy. One can take a gamble (sometimes a fairly substantial investment) in an unheard arrangement. Sometimes they're fine; other times they're badly voiced, rife with mistakes (at which times the vendor may make an adjustment), or just plain b-o-r-i-n-g.

If you feel like looking here, some might fit the bill.

http://www.scoreexchange.com/search?q=trombone+quintet" target="_blank


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'might need the scorch plugin for your browser.

Jim Self wrote a really excellent piece for just this instrumentation, "Winks n' Jinks."
I believe it's a available from Bryan Doughty at http://www.lowbrassmusic.com/tuba/tuba- ... ks-n-jinks" target="_blank
I've performed this a few times and it's challenging but extremely rewarding. I'd highly recommend doing it with a conductor.

Chris Combest

Psalm by Crawford Gates is a great piece for 3 bones, euph, and tuba. It's really beautiful. Dee Stewart recorded it on his album Dee +. Worth checking out!