Category: SOLOS - Euphonium Composer: Alan Williams
Duration 6.00
Jazz Disasters was premiered by David Childs, the dedicatee of the work during a solo recital at the Bridgewater Hall Manchester in 2004. The genres of music I'm most influenced by are jazz, and the "Barbaric" tendency of early 20th century composers like Bartók and Stravinsky. I suppose they have rhythmic ostinato in common, and to me, having at one time played guitar in a big band, the marriage between (in this case) funk and brass seems a natural one.
David had a big input into my piece, encouraging me to explore the extreme regions of the instrument, and of its virtuoso capabilities. It is a kind of collision between the "Balkan" rhythms of the first and last sections and the funk-fusion feel of the middle, with some walking bass thrown in for good measure. The piece should feel like a runaway train, always on the point of coming off the tracks.
This short, light-hearted solo has been described as The Salvation Army's answer to 'The flight of the bumble bee' and requires facility from the soloist and accurate accompaniment from the band. The solo opens and closes with whimsical references to Erik Leidzen's famous euphonium solo 'The Song of the Brother' and includes the tunes 'A robe of white' and 'I'll serve Thee'.
Categories: NEW & RECENT Publications, SOLOS - Euphonium Composer: Karl Jenkins
The Juggler is taken from Karl Jenkins' Euphonium Concerto, an extended work given its world premiere by euphonium soloist David Childs and the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Owain Arwel Hughes in St. David's Hall, Cardiff during the last night of the 2009 Welsh Proms.
The Juggler, would normally form the first movement of the concerto, but it stands alone very well as an individual work for euphonium and band. The music is episodic beginning with with a minimalist texture over which the euphonium "tweets" three short calls before riffing around. It is broken up by a 'circus waltz' exploiting the agility and vituosity of the euphonium in a fun context.
On his eagerness to compose the work for David, Karl Jenkins stated, "It's been a privilege to write for such a virtuoso performer. We had been talking about it for some time and happily it all came together in 2009. David is a wonderful musician of the highest quality and it was a joy and, indeed, a challenge, to write a work for both him and an instrument of such beauty and agility."
The Juggler for euphonium and brass band recieved its premiere on November 29th 2009 in Swansea's Brangwyn Hall performed by David Childs and the Cory Band conducted by Dr. Robert Childs, and can be heard on Doyen CD262 Moto Perpetuo.
Other individual movements and the complete Concerto for Euphonium with brass band accompniament are available from Prima Vista Musikk. Orchestral and wind band versions are available from Boosey and Hawkes.
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