Bombardon Parts

Julie W · Post by **Julie W** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 2:11 am

Earlier this afternoon I was preparing the music for an upcoming Lawrence City Band Concert and as I was sorting through some really old William Tell Overature parts (arr. Sommer) I noticed that it was typically old with ony Eb Horn parts, Db Picc parts etc. What I wasn't prepared for was the part following the treble clef Baritone to be called "Bombardon". The next part in the set was String Bass, and based on range and common sense I deduced that Bombardon = Tuba, but I was nonetheless shocked and wondered what light could be shed here.

Thanks,

Julie

Highams · Post by **Highams** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 2:30 am

Indeed, in fact there is a tuba solo/feature called Bombastic Bombardons by Edrich Siebert.

The old Hawkes & Son military band editions are full of these parts. Quite often two spellings of Euphonium was used as well, Euphonium for TC parts and Euphonion for BC!

CB

imperialbari · Post by **imperialbari** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 3:39 am

Shortly after 1960, when we still played old style brass band arrangements, bombardon parts were very frequent.

When I was in our "gymnasium" (a superior variant of the US high-school), we had a visit from a UK boarding school. The guy having his meals in my home happened to play bombardon in their school band. Sadly they had not taken the band along on the tour.

A bombardon is an Eb tuba.

Klaus Smedegaard Bjerre

a2ba4u · Post by **a2ba4u** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 7:15 am

Two unrelated facts that have to do with this subject:

1. The Holst First Suite, in the manuscript, calls for bombardon. Though this might be a trivial point, I think for me knowing that Holst conceptualized the piece's central theme with a smaller tuba in mind really changes my approach to the piece as a whole and the individual excerpts.

2. Right now, I'm in the middle of a two week teaching residency in Brazil. Here, the "Bombardino" is a euphonium.

Kyle