Franz Liszt wrote a nice piece for bass trombone and organ, which can work well with either euphonium or tuba. It is the "Hosanna" and is based on a hymn tune with simple variations. It is a rather powerful work, but is not technically challenging. I have used it in church and it worked well.

The sheet music is available here:

Liszt Hosanna

You can buy a recording of Christian Lindberg playing this and several other pieces that offer good choices for a worship service or recital:

Christian Lindberg, the Sacred Trombone


Or you can get the single track as an MP3 download here:

Hosanna, by Franz Liszt, Christian Lindberg Trombone

There is also a YouTube video (although it is one of those videos that shows only still shots) where you can hear the music played very well:

I have just added a recording to our Downloads for Members Only area in the Euphonium-Tuba Forum. It is a live recording from The United States Tuba-Euphonium Conference about 15 years ago. It is a "must-hear" performance! They trade lines back and forth so fast you can hardly keep up.

Childs Brothers: Moto Perpetuo, free MP3 download.

My site has a convenient section of brass videos, already embedded in a video browser/player. I have chosen videos I feel are of value for one reason or another.

In the last couple days I added a few new tuba videos. They feature the late, great John Fletcher (best know for his work in the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble). John was a great musician and technician. You will find his videos, as well as 40 other tuba videos, on this page:

Tuba Music Videos

You will also find links for videos of euphonium, trumpet, French horn, trombone, and brass ensemble. And for real trumpet fans, there is a separate section of Doc Severinsen videos.

If you are a composer (or pass this along if you know a composer) there is a chance to win a First Prize of $2000, a Second Prize of $1000, or a Third Prize of $500. You need to compose a piece for brass octet (3131)  3 trumpets (cornets, flugelhorns), horn (in F), 3 trombones (bass clef), & tuba. Euphonium (bass clef) may be substituted for one trombone part (312.11). This competition is sponsored by the The Humboldt Brass Chamber Music Workshop.

Complete details here: 4barsrest News

I have written before about the value (for the player and the congregation) of performing in a worship setting. Today I had the chance to play along with our closing hymn in church. The hymn was based on the tune for Eternal Father, which I especially like because Eternal Father is the Coast Guard (and Navy) hymn. I played it for various reasons during the 26 years I was in the U.S. Coast Guard Band. It was often used in ceremonies as well as funerals.

We used four verses today and I used the Douglas Smith book of hymn descants to help me (shown here). For the first verse I played the melody from the Smith book. I stayed out during the second verse. Then on the third verse I played the tenor line of the hymn, which works very well as a counter melody (it was actually the part the euphoniums had in the band arrangement). For the last verse I use the descant from the Hill book. Click below to hear the sound file from that service. Forgive a couple spots where some quick passing notes didn't come out (I sat for an hour without playing, which may have contributed, but it goes with the gig and it's good experience!). The mics were right above me, so you will hear the euphonium much louder than it would have sounded acoustically.

Eternal Father with Organ and Congregation

You can find the Douglas Hill book on a page I have built with many resources for performing in church. The book I used is Volume One. Here is the treble clef page:

Sheet Music: Trumpet or Euphonium Hymns and Descants

And here is a page with bass clef versions:

Sheet Music: Trombone or Euphonium Hymns and Descants

Speaking of Eternal Father, I was very struck by its use as part of a movie soundtrack. I first saw this movie after I had already been in the military, and Eternal Father had a lot of significance for me. The movie Crimson Tide (Gene Hackman, Denzel Washington) was about a nuclear submarine sent out to wait for word of an impending war. As the sub was heading out on the surface, the officers were talking. Then the sub went under the water and just disappeared in the vastness of the ocean. During that scene, Eternal Father was being sung by a male chorus, and it was an extremely powerful moment. It's a pretty good movie in other ways, too!

 

25 years ago, in the Bournemouth area of England, a big band was formed with Steven Mead as one of its trombone (yes, trombone) players. As recognition the 25th anniversary of the Taverners Big Band, Steve Waterman is writing a piece that features trumpet and euphonium (with Steven Mead covering the euphonium duty).

Read the full article here:

4BarsRest: Mead set for jazz anniversary