Euphoniums Unlimited
Euphoniums Unlimited Personnel
- R. Winston Morris, director
- Cory Belvin
Graduate Student, Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music accepted as a member of the Army Ground Forces Band - Lloyd Bone
Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Glenville State College - Bryce Edwards
Free-lance euphoniumist with the “Mr. Jack Daniel's Original Silver Cornet Band” and the Cumberland County Playhouse - Seth Fletcher
Doctoral Assistant at the University of North Carolina - Greensboro - Joshua Hauser
Assistant Professor at Tennessee Technological University - Eric Paull
Adjunct Professor of Music at Austin Peay State University - Ashley Sample
Doctoral Assistant at the University of Southern Mississippi - Jimmie E. Self
Adjunct faculty member at East Tennessee State University and principal trombonist with the Symphony of the Mountains. - Kelly Thomas
Assistant Professor of Tuba/Euphonium and director of pep bands at the University of Arizona - Mark Walker
Assistant Director of Bands and Assistant Professor of Music at Troy University
Program Notes
- A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square , Manning Sherwin/Gene Puerling/arr. Darin Cochran
- Exhibitions , David Uber
featuring Brian Bowman, euphonium soloist - Runnin' with Bydlo Greg Danner
Moser Cameos music: Aldo Rafael Forte
featuring Raymond Jones, Narrator words: Carolyn Ruth Moser - I. Harmony
- II. Bacchus
- III. Tennis?
- IV. Thunder Shower
- V. Hats
- Lampi (2004)
Kirmo Lintinen featuring Jukka Myllys, euphonium soloist
A Little Monster Music Elizabeth Raum - I. Hydra
- II. Nessie
- III. Fafner
- IV. St. George and the Dragon
- In the Cathedral Neal Corwell
featuring Brian Bowman, euphonium soloist - By the Waters of Babylon William R. Brusick
- "In Memoriam" Sept. 11, 2001, Duncan J. MacMillan
featuring Adam Frey, euphonium soloist - Euphoniums Unlimited, Jim Self
- EuPhunk, Joshua Hauser
featuring Joshua Hauser, euphonium soloist
After forty-plus years of teaching as a low brass instructor, I finally made a discovery: the euphonium is the most versatile musical instrument ever invented! I've always suspected this was the case but as a tubist I just didn't want to admit the inevitable. As a champion of the traditional "tuba ensemble" which employs both euphoniums and tubas it has been obvious that tubas by themselves just don't hack it. "Tubas only" work, in my opinion, only in the hands of extraordinary performers with only a handful of pieces that have ever been conceived for just tubas. The "Euphoniums Unlimited" project proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that euphoniums "don¹t need no stinkin' tubas!" Indeed, it's the other way around!
This project comes after my involvement in more than two dozen traditional tuba ensemble recordings over the past forty years. These include recordings by the Tennessee Tech Tuba Ensemble (14 recordings), SYMPHONIA (3 recordings), the Matteson/Phillips TUBAJAZZ CONSORT (2 recordings), the Modern Jazz Tuba Project (2 recordings) and the Armed Forces Tuba/Euphonium Ensemble (1 recording) plus a number of other miscellaneous projects. The idea of an all-euphonium recording is something that I've thought about for a number of years now. As a result, this recording project was conceived, repertoire was solicited, and personnel was established.
In addition to the members of the group, Euphoniums Unlimited , we invited three world-class representatives of the "art of the euphonium" to appear as guest soloists: Brian Bowman, Adam Frey, and Jukka Myllys. The incredible repertoire generated for this recording is certainly equal to the proficiency of the outstanding performers. Of special interest on this project, and by design, with the exception of the first two tracks, the rest of the repertoire is original music composed specifically for t his effort. The listener can learn all about the music, the composers, and the performers in the extensive program notes provided. Expressions of our gratitude to all concerned are in the acknowledgement section.
With a "tip o' the hat" to our good buddy Steven Mead with his unbelievable multi-tracked recordings, acknowledgement to the "brothers euphonium" (Bob and Nikki Childs) for their duet tracks, and tribute to the great Toru Miura for his "The Euphonium Company" ensemble, this project is the first recording that we are aware of for the large euphonium choir. The musical styles possible on the euphonium are unlimited as is evident by the repertoire: from total "EuPhunk" to ultimate seriousness represented by "In Memoriam" (a tribute to the "events" of September 11, 2001). The tonal range of the euphonium choir, on this recording at any rate, extends from double pedals (look out tubas!) to high F's and higher around every corner. There simply is no style of music that the euphonium cannot represent.
There are some wonderful composers out there who recognize the potential of the euphonium as one of the most expressive and fluid voices in the instrumental world. However, many of us involved in the professional world of low brass are concerned about the ignorance that abounds in relation to the euphonium as a musical voice and the lack of knowledge by modern-day composers and arrangers who do not seem to have a clue as to how to effectively write for it. Speaking for everyone involved in this project, it is our utmost desire that this effort will make a positive contribution to the future of this "beautiful sounding" instrument and further establishes the euphonium as a musical voice of the present and the future.
R. Winston Morris
Professor of Music, Tennessee Tech University
Euphoniums Unlimited, Music For Euphonium Choir CD recording. Mark Custom Recording Services, Inc. 10815 Bodine Road , Clarence , NY 14031-0406 . 716-759-2600. FAX: 716-759-2329 E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . www.markcustom.com. Mark #5543. No price specified.
Director: R. Winston Morris; Euphonium Soloists: Dr. Brian L. Bowman, Adam Frey, Joshua Houser, Jukka Myllys; Ensemble Members: Cory Belvin, Lloyd Bone, Bryce Edwards, Seth Fletcher, Eric Paull, Ashley Sample, Jimmie Self, Kelly Thomas, Mark Walker.
Look out tubists! With the exceptions of Steven Mead's Euphonium Magic , volumes 1 and 2, the duet-tracked recordings of the Childs Brothers, and Toru Miura's The Euphonium Company ensemble, this is the first-ever recording of a large euphonium choir with multiple members. What's more, it's as equally as convincing a recording as the before mentioned discs in answering the question as to whether or not a euphonium choir can be as musically convincing as the tuba-euphonium ensemble. (That answer is most definitely yes, in spite of my bias as a euphonium player!) I think that this project's director, the famed R. Winston Morris, says it best:
As a champion of the traditional “tuba ensemble”, which employs both euphoniums and tubas, it has been obvious that tubas by themselves just don't hack it. “Tubas only” work, in my opinion, only in the hands of extraordinary performers with only a handful of pieces that have ever been conceived for just tubas. The “Euphoniums Unlimited” project proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that euphoniums “don't need no stinkin' tubas”. Indeed, it's the other way around.
Enough said. With about 80% of the music on the disc being composed or arranged for this project, virtually all of it is serious in its scope, being not only a significant contribution to this project, but also to euphonium literature on the whole. Perhaps my favorite work on the disc was William Brusick's “By the Waters of Babylon ” which was his setting of Psalm 137:1-6, which depicts the 70-year Babylonian captivity of the nation of Israel . I found the piece quite stirring, and the use of the ensemble as a chorus is a nice touch to the work. Equally as enjoyable to me were Elizabeth Raum's arrangement of her four-movement work A Little Monster Music (originally composed for Roger Bobo's Stuba ensemble), “In the Cathedral”, by Neal Corwell, and Kirmo Lintinen's Lampi . Lintinen's composition continues a fine tradition of works for the euphonium that have come from Finland , usually with the involvement of Jukka Myllys, who appears as the soloist on this track. If you liked his Finnish Euphonium CD, you're going to like Lampi as well , which is Jukka's only solo track on this recording.
All of the soloists on this disc sound really wonderful. In addition to “In the Cathedral”, Dr. Bowman appears on David Uber's 1977 work, Exhibitions , which is given its first recording (at least to my knowledge) here. Adam Frey gives a nice performance of Duncan MacMillan's “In Memoriam” Sept. 11, 2001 , which is based on motifs from “ America the Beautiful”, and in terms of range, is perhaps the highest euphonium solo I have ever heard. Josh Hauser adds a nice work to the disc of his own composition, EuPhunk , and further adds a nice bit of soul to this track in his solo playing.
In just a few spots, I found that the ensemble could have had perhaps a bit more dynamic contrast, and some moments in the ensemble are slightly questionable in terms of the intonation. However, in truth, I really can't complain past this. This is a recording worth having, and it is my hope that more Euphoniums Unlimited recordings are in the future.
-- Jason Ham , United States Military Academy Band and Yamaha Performing Artist
