humor, comedy, etc. for quintet

[jon112780]

I'm not going to say which school and which prof. of mine, but...

When I was doing my undergrad, I was sitting in on one of the faculty quintet rehearsals in the auditorium. This was a piece where 4 out of the 5 players were standing to play, and the tuba player was sitting on a tall, three legged stool for some reason. They had just finished one of the pieces and the tubist had his tuba in one hand, and a thick folder of BQ music in the other (his arms were full- it was a REALLY thick folder). He got up and said something to the effect "I'm going to need somebody to handle my stool, when I get off stage."

I start laughing hysterically and they looked at me like I was crazy...

Ah, those were the days.

[windshieldbug]

I always liked the pluralization of a Monty Python line:

"We've suffered for our music- now it's your turn!"

[tuba_hacker]

I start laughing hysterically and they looked at me like I was crazy...

That reminds me of last year's ETW, at the performance of Bones Apart, a trombone quartet. They were talking back and forth between numbers, and Lorna MacDonald said, in a thick Scottish brogue, "I made a bet with Becky about how many folks wouldn't be able to understand me..." Somehow I understood her but a young man sitting in front of me turned to his companion and whispered "what'd she say?"... I doubled over laughing but nobody knew why.

Now, back to topic.

I saw an impromtu street performance in Mexico last summer by a group called M5, a brass quintet based out of Morelia. They played pieces from a number of genres, mostly tunes with Latin influence, and also a traditional Bach fugue. There was some moving about of players according to the piece being performed, to include a bullfight scene, if memory serves. They were a very accomplished group; their performance was a real crowd pleaser (they opened with the James Bond theme music). I haven't tried a youtube search but a good posting there would do justice to their performance, since it was more than "just the music"

[lgb&dtuba]

You could always do your own version of the "Dead String Quartet" from SNL.

[eupher61]

Not a brass quintet, but my old woodwind quintet used to do a piece called "The Geographical Fugue." It's a spoken choral piece by Ernst Toch that is a rythmical challenge and was always a hit. You can see it performed by a quartet at the link below:

TRINIDAD! and the big Mississippi and the town Honolulu and the Lake Titticaca. The Pocopetepetyl is not in Canada rather in Mexico Mexico Mexico Canada Malaga Rimini Brindisi

Our PMA chapter (long defunct now) performed that every year at the music school's Christmas party. Quite fun. My copy is stashed away somewhere...

[pg]

If the gig is going well and the crowd is diggin' it, I like to end our gigs with something like:

This will be our final selection before our first encore . . .

- or -

I want you to considerr that this may be your only opportunity to give a standing ovation to a tuba quartet.

All light hearted and with a big smile, of course.

And get a duck call. Everyone laughs when they hear a duck call - just don't over do it.

--paul;

[tubatooter1940]

Art Hovey, a fine educator, player and all around good guy I read on this forum has recorded some great comedy in the classical vein.
I am not sure of the size ensemble Art recorded with but I feel his material could be adapted to most any size group.

P.S. Doc, Doc, where are you?

[bill]

There is a wonderfully humorous B5et called A Coconut Names Alex . It is by David Marlatt. It is current and in print.