Brass Quartet- rep advice

[tubaguy4]

Hey all
I am working on putting together a brass quartet right now with an instrumentation of Tuba, Trombone, Horn, and Trumpet. I know that two trumpets two trombones is a more traditional instrumentation. With not a lot of experience in running a group like this I wanted to reach out to some of you with more experience: what are some good arrangements or pieces for such a group, and what has worked well for any of you who have been in charge or in a leader role in a small group like this. Thanks for any and all information.

[tclements]

If you go to the BCMW web site and look in the libraries (http://www2.humboldt.edu/brass/musiclibrary.html" target="_blank), you will be looking for 1111 quartets. We have MOST of the rep that is published for that complement.

[hup_d_dup]

Tubaguy, perhaps you are already aware of this, but a frequent problem with small groups is scheduling. You are always working around other people's schedules. If can you set aside a regular time and day for group rehearsals you will have eliminated one of the most vexing issues.

For repertoire, it helps if you are willing to key in parts from other arrangements to fit the instrumentation of your group. You can find many free quartet arrangements at http://uhaweb.hartford.edu/lichtmann/brass4tet.html" target="_blank, which you can adapt for your group.

Another way to get a large selection of 4 part pieces, quickly and inexpensively, is to work from hymnals. Trumpet and horn must transpose from C, but the parts are easy, and you can't get better music for a new group to lock in intonation and ensemble blending.

Hup

[swillafew]

I run a mixed septet. I have adapted music for bigger groups, and gradually come to arranging a large part of the new stuff we do. It has a lot to recommend it; when you know you own people you can write to their strengths. Keyboard collections are a good place to look for the 'scores'. Public domain music is abundant.