EUPHONIUM IN BRASS QUINTET

[PMeuph]

Don't Speak by No Doubt--Euph instead of horn

I find that actually works pretty well. Good job!

__
Sidenote: That song is almost 20 years old now.....

[tbn.al]

You got some high chops, yes you do!

[tbn.al]

Regularly-playing in a brass quintet with a "great" or "good" trombonist (who selectively "doubles" on euphonium) can prove to be a bit annoying (quirky lack-of-complete-familiarity-with-the-instrument intonation / "mushiness" - i.e. "over-mellow-ness" - of the overall sonic texture)...

...and - if anyone I've worked with is reading this - I am *not* referring to specific personalities or specific episodes. Rather, I'm referring to general experiences over decades.

+1
I never thought about the horn substitute before, but I like it better than subbing for the trombone. There are a few pieces that I think Euph might be an improvement over trombone but rarely indeed. I guess I am just a traditionalist at heart. For whatever that is worth.

[MTFULRUTUBA]

Apparently, euphonium (ophicleide) was used pre-tuba, 1850-1852. You should check out the Jean Francois Victor Bellon Brass Quintets. 12 in total (I believe) that originally specified ophicleide though marked for tuba in the new editions by BIM. The tuba part gets to A-Flat above the staff and stays relatively high in the 2nd quintet. The Ewald Quintet recorded #1-#4 using a tuba and they are really nice works. Hope they get around to recording the next 8!

[burningchrome]

We had a trombone player sit in with us today. I miss the euphonium.

[trnewcomb]

Hi, all...
Here are a few examples of euphonium instead of horn...I did these live a while back.

Wow, great job! High chops indeed. I tried playing horn parts on trombone once and it was not a success - I didn't (and probably still don't) have the on-the-spot transposing skills.

[trnewcomb]

I'm not fond of much of the "serious euphonium literature" so I decided to position myself in a different musical niche. That required a skill set a bit different from the norm, which--as it turned out--fit me better personally.
I do play some "serious euphonium literature" but prefer the pop/jazz/swing/.

As do I. I don't play serious euphonium literature at all - instead I mainly play in trad jazz and big band swing groups. Mostly trombone/bas trombone, but I also do a fair amount of tuba and even some cornet. I use the Reynolds tromhorn (basically a King trombonium copy) and the Yamaha 321S euphonium when I want a darker, more lyrical sound.

[brassbow]

Snorlax what audio recording program are you using? I use audacity. https://soundcloud.com/richard-cunningh ... sets/album" target="_blank
As to horns this was Eb cornet, Bb cornet, alto horn,Eb tuba. I find alto horn a nice trombone replacement. Euphonium tends to be to mellow. It does work if the lead voice is cornets, trumpets not so much. For a closer TROMBONE sound I vote baritone or alto.

[euphoni]

I think Eugene Watts plays euphonium instead of trombone, mostly, when the technique is demanding enough to make it easier on euphonium than trombone. Then sometimes the euphonium is used for its timbre (like a flugelhorn being substituted on slow tunes).

But unless you're playing Ewald with cornets, I don't think the euphonium's timbre is as complimentary as a trombone's timbre with trumpets and a French horn. For my ear, the euphonium's sound dominates and makes the tenor line as big, important and pronounced as the tuba's bass line, which completely throws the groups balance off.

For my ears and preferences, a baritone is much better for blend in a traditional 5tet than a euphonium. Unless you're using cornets instead of trumpets, then an all conical group will blend perfectly with euphonium.

[MaryAnn]

Our BQT just got together for the first time in quite a while; our 1st trumpet died last March and we've been sort of holding off. But his widow, who was the horn player, was cajoled into trying the 1st tpt part (but she only owns cornets,) I switched from euph on the tbone part to horn, and we found a tbone/euph player who much preferred the euph.
So we did it with two cornets, horn, euph, and tuba. We were delighted with the sound. Conical Brass. Next time we meet we're going to play some Ewald again, too. It would be interesting to take my euph and play that on the horn part. I've played low horn parts on F tuba and had it work out quite well, but the higher horn stuff in a quintet might be a challenge on the euph. I can just read the horn part, so maybe I'll give it a try.
MA

[eupho]

I heard the 10th Mountain Division Quintet perform with euphonium on the trombone parts and really liked the meshing of the tuba, euphonium and horn timbres. I thought the trumpet players did a great job of sitting back into the conical side of the sound.

As a euphonium and tuba player, I have used euphonium on 5th parts scored for trombone 2, bass trombone and bass tuba. My quintet members were especially happy with the euphonium as the bass voice.