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“Great fun to play”
Low Brass Ensemble and Accompaniment Track
(6-parts, flex instrumentation)
5.5 minutes. Grade 3-4
The upper 4 parts are provided in 3 transpositions each: C bass clef, Bb treble clef, and horn in F, to give the director great flexibility in adjusting for his/her particular group’s instrumentation.
SCROLL DOWN FOR RECORDING AND REVIEW
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GREAT FUN TO PLAY
Appeals to all audiences … great fun to play … very approachable. Wonderful work to feature the low brass section at a high school spring band concert
Recording
Review by Dr. Mark Nelson from Tuba Journal
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Unlike the complex rhythmic demands of Ayers’ The Dancing King, this piece is easily accessible by college and advanced high school ensembles. The 4/4 time signature and quarter note=126 tempo essentially remain constant. The score and parts are immaculate with large, easy-to-read notes, informative program notes, about the piece and how to operate the tape as well as a biography of the composer.
The accompaniment is interesting with a variety of very convincing percussive and mallet instrument effects. Overall ranges for the ensemble are rather conservative ranging from the first euphonium high note of Bb above middle C to EE, the lowest note of the tuba part.
For the college and professional ensembles, this piece is rather light although it makes for a good diversion from the customary fare, and at 5.5 minutes, a perfect length for resting one’s “chops.” I like the blend of sounds Ayers achieves with the balance of acoustical and electronic mediums and I like the rhythmic drive of the accompaniment.
© 1992 TUBA Journal, used by permission
Review by Dr. Jerry Young
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This work appeals to all audiences, as well as to all euphoniumists and tubists! It is a great deal of fun to play and is very approachable by an accomplished high school group. This would be a wonderful work to feature the low brass section at a high school spring band concert and would work equally well as something a little different on a university euphonium/tuba ensemble concert. I featured this work when I conducted the International High School All-Star Euphonium/Tuba Ensemble at Northwestern University in 1995. It was a favorite piece for the students in the group, who hailed from Japan, the U.S., Scandinavia, and Europe.