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COMING ON MARCH 8, 2008: What does it mean to be your own teacher?
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Does the brass band inspire the world's best euphonium soloists?
A look at why the brass band culture has consistently produced some of the world's best euphonium talent
For a long time now I have had the ideas for this article rolling around in my head, but I have never had the courage to put them on paper. As an American, perhaps the reason for this delay revolves around a personal fear of the professional repercussions that could accompany the central question behind these ideas: Why have the world’s best euphonium players consistently come from the British brass band tradition?
Now before too many of my American wind band colleagues go calling for my head on a silver platter, know that I’ll readily concede that the global wind band scene has produced truly remarkable players, and many other great euphoniumists in the world today come from no tradition or scene at all. In truth, the right combination of talent and drive in a performer can overcome most obstacles, regardless of tradition. However, I think that most conscientious euphonium players will agree that the “wow” effect that only a slim minority of the world’s euphonium soloists possess has a common thread: the brass band. Why is this the case?
I believe that this question can be answered through five basic facts about the brass band culture, of which the euphonium is an integral part. First, euphonium players within the brass band culture usually begin playing earlier than those players who grow up in other environments. Second, the nature of the brass band sound automatically develops the euphonium soloist’s approach to the instrument. Third, the soloistic role of the euphonium within brass band culture demands the utmost virtuosity, both in ensemble and solo playing. Fourth, the competitive nature of the brass band culture has demanded the highest levels of musicianship from euphoniumists in this society. Finally, in most locations where the brass band culture exists, the public is more aware of the euphonium, and thus, more accepting of its existence and performance.
Every June, I get to judge a competition for the Salvation Army in the New York City area called “Salvationist Star Search”. Hosted by the New York Staff Band of the Salvation Army, this is a wonderful event that showcases the best up-and-coming talent from across the Eastern Territory of the Salvation Army in America. While most of the children and teenagers in this event demonstrate some talent, others at this competition are clearly there because mom or dad forced the issue, to be sure. However, with some degree of consistency, there are also participants that shock me with their ability on a brass instrument. I can distinctly remember hearing a 9 year-old child about two years ago who had a better concept of the cornet and its sound than other cornet players I’ve met who were three or four times this child’s age. He just was that good.
The point in mentioning this competition is the fact that the entire brass band culture is just this way, whether as part of the Salvation Army or not. Much like the intense environment of piano and string performers, the brass band world consistently begins its players at a very young age. A look at the biographies of those euphonium soloists who have clearly come from this brass band tradition proves this. With an enormous degree of consistency, you’ll see that almost all of these players began playing the euphonium at a significantly earlier age than those who did not grow up in the brass band movement. This chance to begin playing at an earlier age has given many of these euphonium soloists an edge over those who had no backing in the brass band culture.
It’s a given that the brass band is a musical idea that works well. Perhaps the most significant and obvious reason for this is the brass band’s homogeneous construction. Much like the string section of an orchestra (tubas in the brass band are called basses, after all), the brass band does not face the challenge of trying to blend unlike families of instruments. Unlike the wind band (composed of woodwinds and brass), the brass band only blends the sound of instruments that are already similar within the same musical family. Furthermore, the entire brass band is conical, with the exception of the trombone section, and thus, the brass band has a more natural harmonic structure. Whereas the wind band’s low brass section consists of the tenor trombone, the bass trombone, the euphonium and the tuba, the brass band adds two more voices to this section – the baritone and the Eb tuba. Six voices are most definitely distinguishable from four, and I believe that this thicker scoring employs the euphonium to play with more support through the low brass section. With a lot of love to my woodwind-playing colleagues, I’d rather play in front of a brass band than a wind band on any day, simply because I feel more support from the brass band.
The role of the euphonium in the brass band differs significantly from its role in the wind band, and this can be distinguished primarily on two fronts. First, in the brass band, the euphonium is expected to be a solo instrument, even in ensemble playing. Without question, among the standard repertoire of the brass band, one would be challenged to find a work that does not demand that the euphonium (or the euphonium section) be featured in a solo (or soli) role. What’s more, the finesse and virtuosity that these works demand is sometimes nothing short of amazing (the solo/duet from the middle movement of Dean Goffin’s “My Strength, My Tower” is suddenly playing in my head). Admittedly, while many of the mainstays of the wind band repertoire demand the same finesse and virtuosity as the brass band repertoire, if we were honest as euphonium players, the “chance to shine” in this ensemble does not compare to the opportunities presented by the brass band. All too often, composers in the wind band tradition have no clue as to what to do with the euphonium section, and we find ourselves doubling our tuba friends in the adjacent octave. While many composers are improving on this, there’s still some ground to cover.
The euphonium’s development as a solo instrument within the brass band culture has most certainly been aided by the fact that this body of solo literature has been composed as original compositions for the euphonium. (In truth, euphonium players owe a lot to our Salvationist composer-friends who have given a wonderful body of literature to this cause.) On the other hand, a cursory glance at the euphonium’s solo literature in the wind band genre reveals that much of this solo work has been the result of stealing from other instruments, particularly from the cornet. Make no mistake, however: the idea of a euphonium soloist in the wind band has indeed improved in the last 20 years (heck, the last 10 years, too!), but this status remains decades behind where the brass band has long been. While the euphonium soloist has been expected in the brass band for a long time, this expectation is only now being applied to those willing and able euphonium players in the wind band.
Perhaps one of the greatest reasons for the superiority of the brass band euphonium soloist has been the intensely competitive nature of the brass band culture. Clearly, competition among European brass bands is an old and stately tradition (at least, most of the time!). For anyone who has experienced this in person, the nature of those brass band competitions is much like the atmosphere that surrounds the world of competitive professional sports in the USA, albeit on a smaller scale. What’s more, this atmosphere has produced a healthy spirit of competition that has served all brass musicians by demanding higher standards of performance. (Audible audience gasps in the Royal Albert Hall at chipped notes come to mind as evidence of the expected standard.) Furthermore, loyalty that exists in these competitions is truly remarkable, both in terms of the band members to the band, the town to its band, and the band to its town.
Notably, the competitive brass band scene has its own system of generating new compositions, as the annual supply of test pieces at various band competitions consistently insure. While so many new wind band works (and brass band, too!) are the result of commissions from various colleges and universities, the brass band has a composition side to its existence, apart from academic institutions. Simply put, the brass band world doesn’t need the academic world to survive. The brass band movement has a society of composers who, as earlier stated, have already contributed tremendously to the advancement of euphonium literature. Composers such as Ball, Steadman-Allen, Himes, Bearcroft, Sparke, and Graham (amongst many many others) have invested great inspiration in the euphonium, and presently, new generations of brass band composers are continuing this tradition.
I have to admit that it’s frustrating to live in a place in the world and a time in musical history where ignorance really has become bliss for some. (My soapbox will be small, but completely necessary, don’t worry.) My daily interaction inside a wind band has really convinced me that the euphonium truly isn’t part of the American culture, no matter how hard you try to argue the point. I am constantly appalled at the fact that American music publishers still cannot seem to figure out what to put on the euphonium part to their wind band works. Is it a baritone? Is it a euphonium? Is it a tenor tuba? (C’mon guys, it’s not that hard!)
Finally, (and tragically, I’m still on my soapbox) I have yet to get over the stigma that exists between “professional” and “amateur,” particularly in light of what the brass band has done globally for brass playing. Applicable to all brass musicians is my personal experience of seeing and hearing more professionalism from “amateur” brass band musicians in a remote town band in western Europe than from “professional” brass musicians in a wind band here in the USA. Not intended to be a slam on the States, the consistency with which this experience has replayed itself has been almost unbelievable. It makes one question the idea of what the standard of a professional really is.
In closing, I’ll admit to allowing my maturity begin to let the filter that has prevented me from asking questions aloud like the one posed here fade a bit. In so doing, I’ve decided to take the honest and more direct approach in terms of answering these same questions. There’s a pattern of playing that comes from the brass band tradition that has consistently awed me. It wowed me the first time I heard it, and it is the same standard that pushes me into the practice room every day, whether I’m preparing for next week’s brass band rehearsal, or my next trip to solo somewhere around the world.
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SPECIAL THANKS to Mark Freeh and Diana Casar-Uhl for their input on this article.
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E-mail your comments (and nasty remarks!) about this article to Jason at euphoniumist@jasondham.com
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Copyright
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Jason
D.
Ham
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