Hymn to the Fallen Bass part

[Eyedoc]

Playing this beautiful piece for 4th concert. Any comments on where to breathe in the string of pedal a flats and jumping in and out of pedal range. I find I need to breathe every 2 to 4 beats. Anyone have a recording of the bass part?

[BGuttman]

I'll give you the same suggestion I gave to a tuba player playing the Tchaikovsky "Romeo and Juliet" (with a 30 second note). Find places where you are covered and breathe there. Strategy overcomes lung capacity.

[ghmerrill]

Yeah, this is a challenge -- especially to play the required dynamics down there and not fall over from oxygen deprivation. It would be a lot easier on a tuba. It's going in and out of the range at the right dynamics and articulation that's tough. It needs to be really soft. Just practice a lot.

Also, being old doesn't help. I used to do a lot better down there 20 years ago.

[Zandit75]

Playing this beautiful piece for 4th concert. Any comments on where to breathe in the string of pedal a flats and jumping in and out of pedal range. I find I need to breathe every 2 to 4 beats. Anyone have a recording of the bass part?

You must be playing a different arrangement to the one our Brass Band plays. We played this piece on the weekend, and there are no pedals in my part.

[JohnL]

Are we talking about the Paul Lavender concert band arrangement? It's been a while, but my recollection is that the 3rd/bass trombone part doubles the tuba part quite a bit, and I let the tuba/string bass sound predominate.

[Eyedoc]

Yes, the Paul Lavender transcription for concert band. In the middle of the piece, it builds to forte with a string of pedal A flats and other beautiful notes from mid staff to pedal G. With the positive comments from the 1st trumpet in front of me, I will do my best to inhale deeply and play an easy forte knowing the tuba will help carry over my frequent breaths.

[ghmerrill]

I'm thinking a forte will be too loud there. I don't have access to the part at the moment, but it does double the tuba a lot and you don't want to have the bass trombone cut through all of that and sound harsh. But I suppose this depends partly on how the conductor wants to present the piece. Unfortunately, I don't think the tuba can successfully obscure the distinctive timbre of a bass trombone, and especially those pedals. Better to breathe as you need to and not worry about it. If you have to separate the notes a bit, go with it. There really isn't much of an alternative.