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One of the potential gigs we have this fall is an October Fest for a church. It is their 50th anniversary so they want a party. Our brass group has been asked if we can put together some polka type music for the event. I've been looking around and there is not a lot that I have found for music without having about 10 people. I did find the Hungry Five books. They are written for 2 clarinets, a trumpet, a trombone and a tuba. I was wondering, could these be played with 3 trumpets, a trombone and a tuba? Sound may be off a bit, but would it work?

I've played them but it's been decades.

I'm pretty sure they would work fine for a Catholic church.

Yes - I've always thought that they are very well arranged (just leave out the "wise cracks" and you'll be fine).

The clarinet parts might be a little high and busy for trumpets?

I played them years ago with the intended instrumentation and they worked great for our group. Several years ago I began to transpose them for a standard brass quintet. I only made it through 6 of them I think but they worked well when the key was changed to put the trumpets in a better range.

You can mix and match the clarinet and trumpet parts on any Bb instruments. You might have to play up or down an octave to get the range.

Tubaru wrote:I played them years ago with the intended instrumentation and they worked great for our group. Several years ago I began to transpose them for a standard brass quintet. I only made it through 6 of them I think but they worked well when the key was changed to put the trumpets in a better range.

This and Dan's comment are very encouraging. I'm done the changing of keys before to get instruments into a playable range. With Finale, making these kind of changes is rather easy. When you transposed into a brass quintet arrangement, which instruments did you have play which parts?

opus37 wrote:

Tubaru wrote:I played them years ago with the intended instrumentation and they worked great for our group. Several years ago I began to transpose them for a standard brass quintet. I only made it through 6 of them I think but they worked well when the key was changed to put the trumpets in a better range.

This and Dan's comment are very encouraging. I'm done the changing of keys before to get instruments into a playable range. With Finale, making these kind of changes is rather easy. When you transposed into a brass quintet arrangement, which instruments did you have play which parts?

Clarinets became trumpets, trumpet became horn, bone and tuba stayed on same part.

I am really interested in getting some of these books. Does anyone know where to find them? I did a quick google search and they seemed to all be out of print.
Thanks

sousaphonehero wrote:I am really interested in getting some of these books. Does anyone know where to find them? I did a quick google search and they seemed to all be out of print.
Thanks

Most are out of print. There are several version in the series which includes: Germany, Ireland, Broadway, Ragtime and Italy. Most are available from the Chatfield Library. I have some of them on loan now, but they will be back in a couple of weeks.

Thanks for the instrumentation order for quintet. It is as I suspected, but confirmation is very helpful.

sousaphonehero wrote:I am really interested in getting some of these books. Does anyone know where to find them? I did a quick google search and they seemed to all be out of print.
Thanks

I found them a few years ago at J.W. Pepper. Maybe they are still available.

Last I knew the only Hungry Five books available new were "Hungry Five in Germany". They were still being published by Hansen House Publishing in Miami.

Germany and Ragtime are available from J.W. Pepper

vitak-elsnic.com

They have all their stuff online now. I have used the Whoopee John and Little German books for years.

aqualung wrote:vitak-elsnic.com

They have all their stuff online now. I have used the Whoopee John and Little German books for years.

What instrumentation do you use with these books?

I also have the Hungry Five, Heine's Happy Five (Fischer), and Polka Time (Kjos) books.
I usually cover all of them with 2 clarinets, 2 flugels, a Baritone, and a Tuba. Can get by with 1 less treble instrument.
Even playing all repeats, there's just enough usable for about 2 sets.

For a short gig the Hungry Five Books might do; the repertoire for Oktoberfest has evolved way beyond the simple polkas, waltzes and Rheinlanders. There is also a huge difference between what contemporary Germans enjoy at Oktoberfest and what Americans stereotypically think Oktoberfest music is supposed to be.

The "top ten" tune list on this website is very accurate: http://www.bigboytravel.com/europe/germ ... lar-songs/" target="_blank" target="_blank Not much Oompah here, although it remains part of the "mix".

I work with a German-American singer named Melina who performs many of the songs listed on that site - mostly because we work in New York City, and our audience contains many young Germans currently living or working in America. We do both traditional and the rock'n'roll stuff; it gets the crowd up and sells beer. Several of our tunes are totally unsuitable for a church gig - too risque.

Plus there are several different styles within the idiom - some of which aren't really suited to a brass quintet since they depend upon a musette accordion - Oberkrainer style would be on example. Then there are blaskappelles in the style of Ernst Mosch, who was kind of the Lawrence Welk of German music. Look on Youtube for Ernst Mosch and you'll be euphonium & tuba heaven!

Mark Heter

I have Germany and Ragtime collections; they were still for sale a few years ago. We use soprano saxophones on the clarinet parts, and they sound just fine. If you could find more like this for sale I would buy them.

Check them out at the Chatfield library. To add to your collection there are: Broadway, Italy, Ireland and Hungry 5 rides again. I have not found these particular versions for sale anywhere.

opus37 wrote:Check them out at the Chatfield library. To add to your collection there are: Broadway, Italy, Ireland and Hungry 5 rides again. I have not found these particular versions for sale anywhere.

The only one I know of for sale recently is "Hungry Five in Germany"... published by Hansen House in Miami. J W Pepper lists a few but also notes that they are out of print and only existing stock will be sold. My guess is that the message is pretty dated.

Others are:
- Broadway
- Ragtime
- Italy
- Spain
- Ireland
- Goes to College
- Rides Again

I have them all. Some are fun to play and others not so much.

I have them all. Some are fun to play and others not so much.

So, in your opinion, which are fun to play?

Brian