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Re: NABBA Instant Band

On Sat, 8 Feb 1997, Dr. Henry Meredith wrote:

> As a professional "Saxhorn" player and French Horn player, as well as a
> player of natural trumpets, modern "trumpets", cornets, Flugelhorns, keyed
> bugles, and natural horn, I find generalizations such as the above lacking
> in accuracy.  While I agree that the brass band is, or ought to be, a
> well-blended "family" of instruments (as A. Sax initially intended with his
> like-bored, like-shaped instruments of all pitch ranges), and that "French"
> horns don't necessarily belong in that mix, to say that the most conical and
> mellowest of all brasses is harsh and not warm is to say that the only style

Prehaps everybody is a bit out of conext, I like the sound of the frenh 
horn <i>in its place!</i>

> of horn playing is the "cuivre" "pavillons en l'air" of the French cor de
> chasse ensemble.  Truth be known, it's the trombones that don't fit in the

It's generally accepted that the bones can blend, but also can provide 
some relief in tone colour when requierd.
At a basic level, the band splits into horn tone and straight tone, the 
cornets being include WITH the trombones here.

> brass band, as they are basically cylindrical instruments, while the rest
> are primarily conical.  "Trombone" means big Tromba, and the trumpet family
> is where they belong.  The problem with the French horn in the brass band is
> the bell direction.  Sax took bell direction into account in his designs.
> That's why the most cohesive and blending brass bands were the ones with

I know we want blending, but what do these flutes soubd like on there own?

> unified bell directions used primarily in the US in the mid-19th century.
> Over-the-shoulder saxhorns in Eb soprano (the lead voice), Bb "alto" (=
> today's cornet), Eb tenor, Bb tenor (narrower bore but still not quite
> trombones), Bb baritone, Bb Bass (= euphonium), Eb Contrabass (= Bombardon)
> [seldom if ever a BBb bass], made up the most usual band, and what a sound!
> Other bell designs were helical, bell-front, and bell upright.  Sopranos and
> altos are only made bell front today, but the Eb tenors [called altos in the
> US school bands], baritones, euphoniums, and tubas are the descendants of
> the upright Saxhorn family. 
> 
> >	Also brass band players are really more like virtuoso players.  
> >You'll never hear a French horn play Flight of the Bumble Bee or Carnival 
> >of Venice.  They are stuck on the Mozart, Strauss, and Weber concertos
> >
> >			Kris Richardson
> >
> 
> Gosh, I've heard French horn players doing those pieces.  And excuse me, but
> Strauss, Mozart, and especially the Weber Concertino (try some of those
> variations, double stops, and wide leaps on a cornet!), are certainly what I
> would class as virtuoso pieces!  That has nothing to do with the usual
> exclusion of horns from the brass band.  It's the other reasons I've
> mentioned, and, as I also pointed out, today's instrumentation leaves a lot
> to be desired as far as the optimum blend of "warm" sounds is concerned.
> Tradition plays more of a role than logic (hence the inclusion of trombones
> -- and speaking of Flight of the Bumble Bee -- well, yes, Alain Trudel does
> an [in]credible job with such "virtuoso" pieces on trombone, but that's not
> the trombone's lot in the brass band).
> 
> In The Plumbing Factory Brass Band (London, Ontario, Canada), our concerts
> feature historic instruments to good effect in addition to the standard
> repertoire.  On our last concert, we did Gabrieli's Canzon Duodecimi Toni
> with modern brass band instruments in choir I and renaissance brass band
> instruments (cornettos, sackbuts, and even a serpent) as choir II.  What an
> eye[ear?]-opening experience that was for the band and the audience!  A pole
> taken at the post-concert reception favoured the effect (including tone
> colour, ornamentation capabilities, and, here's the surprise -- intonation),
> of the "original" instruments over that of the modern!  On our next concert
> we will feature natural trumpets in ensemble, and also I will play the
> Sachse Concertino for Eb cornet (1871) on keyed bugle (unless I have to
> conduct more than I think I will, in which case I'll opt for the OTS soprano
> saxhorn).
> 
> Just a little food for thought.
> 
> Henry Meredith   <drhank@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> 
> 
> 
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-- 
  Alastair Wheeler
  Euphonium, Bass Trombone
  Alastair.Wheeler@xxxxxxxxxxxx   http://users.ox.ac.uk/~newc0349/
  "I am following my fish"


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