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Reunion with my long neglected instrument, a boyhood pianist friend and some favorite repertoire has produced for me a musically delicious period, a great deal of fun and a deeply intimate recording. It is dedicated to those who most influenced this project: euphonium players past and present of United States military and British brass bands who set the technical standard, to master teachers Fritz Kaenzig and John Swallow who gifted me with artistic freedom under a disciplined rein, and to my mom and dad. She set the practice clock and drove me to my lessons. He wrote out the valve combinations when I first picked up the horn and led the baritone section of my first real "gig," the Mason City (Iowa) Municipal Band.
My intent with regard to literature selection for this recording was simply to present a recital. Included are two of the most important original works in the repertoire, the Jan Bach and Gordon Jacob. Combined with other 'borrowed' favorites, this program was designed to, through great variety, take advantage of the instrument's split personality: not only that of tenor tuba but also tenor horn, as is evident here in the range of J.S. Bach's E Flat Major Sonata for flute. Octave differential aside, the style and shape of the musical line make for a perfect fit on the euphonium. The lieder (originally for two voices) of Brahms were originally and wonderfully transcribed for two horns by Verne Reynolds. His skilled arrangement and the wonder of overdubbing make for a rich sound indeed. Some personal liberties taken in the Jacob Fantasia are worthy of note: because of the resonance of the instrument (and the moment) in the lower mid-range, I chose to leave unmuted the final Adagio. Also, the final note of the piece is played here up a fourth from the written pitch D. Bassoon literature has never escaped low brass thievery and the great F Minor Sonata certainly lies perfectly in the heart of the euphonium range. I should mention that our intent and hope both here in the Telemann and in the Bach was that by remaining ornamentally lean we might produce ultimate sonic and musical clarity on these instruments. The great thrill of having Jan Bach attend the recording sessions of his Concert Variations shall last in my mind forever. This work, which I believe to be the finest ever composed for the euphonium, is then followed by one of the great park band solos and most recognizable of all cornet tunes, the Carnival of Venice.
To my beautiful, sonorous often misunderstood euphonium I say "thank you." Sincere thanks is also extended to those who coached and assisted in this project: Jan Bach, Trey Devey, Lewis Kirk, Donald Peck, Michael Stefiuk, Dr. Harold Kafer and the Northern Illinois University School of Music, Dr. Gerald Zar and the Northern Illinois University Graduate School, the late Robert W. Dean, Gilbert G. Lettow, the Mason City (Iowa) Community Schools Instrumental Music Department.
Mark Fisher
Born in 1937, Jan Bach has taught theory and composition at Northern Illinois University since' 1966. In 1982, he was awarded one of the first eight prestigious Presidential Research Professorship grants instituted by the university. His composition teachers have included Roberto Gerhard, Aaron Copland, Kenneth Gaburo, Robert Kelly and Thea Musgrave. Bach was awarded the Koussevitsky award at Tanglewood (1961), first prize at the first International Brass Congress in Montreux, Switzerland (1974), and first prize in the New York City Opera competition for a one-act opera (1980). Five times his works have been recommended for a Pulitzer Prize in music. The Concert Variations were composed in 1977 and premiered in 1978 by Brian Bowman, euphonium and Steven Harlos, piano. With a duration of fifteen minutes, the work is, as its title implies, a set of variations on an original theme stated at the outset by the euphonium each variation is based on different performance techniques of the instrument, including quarter-tones, trills, alternate fingerings (resulting in different timbres), lip smears, valve glissandi, multiphonics produced by singing while playing, etc. His brass quintets Laudes and Rounds and Dances as well as his Happy Prince for narrator and chamber orchestra are recorded and frequently broadcast works.
As a composer of a great variety of works including a ballet, concert overture, two symphonies, numerous concerti for wind and string instruments, many pedagogic works for piano and for chorus, songs and film music, Gordon Jacob ranks also as one of the foremost contributors to the repertoire of original works for military band. Jacob served as professor of composition at London's Royal College of Music from 1924-72. Fantasia for euphonium, completed in 1969 and first published in 1973, was written for Michael Mamminga, an American euphoniumist at that time pursuing post graduate studies in England, and is dedicated to him. Originally written for euphonium and wind band, the composer scored the accompaniment for symphony orchestra in 1982.
MARK FISHER
Mark Fisher is one of the most versatile brass players in the United States and a proud native of Mason City, Iowa. Currently principal trombonist of the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Santa Fe Opera and the Asbury Brass Quintet he also performs as one of Chicago's busiest freelance musicians and principal substitute with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He has served as substitute in the orchestras of Detroit, Milwaukee, Minnesota and San Francisco and performed the solo bass trumpet chair in Lyric Opera's multi-year series of Wagner's Ring cycle. Despite an exhausting performance and travel schedule as a trombonist Fisher continues to find time for his first love, the euphonium. Winner of the Senior Division Solo Competition at the 1983 International TUBA Conference, he was also a prize winner in the 1982 Women's Association of the Minnesota Orchestra Competition which resulted in an invitation by Maestro Pinchas Zukerman to perform as soloist with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Fisher holds degrees from the University of Northern Iowa and the New England Conservatory of Music. He serves on the faculties of Northern Illinois University and Roosevelt University.
MARK LAWSON
Pianist Mark Lawson has performed throughout the United States and Central America as a soloist, recitalist, accompanist and jazz pianist. He is currently on the faculty of the Yale Opera Program at Yale University. A graduate of Drake University and the Manhattan School of Music, he received his Doctorate in Piano Performance from the Eastman School of Music in 1990. His teachers have included George Katz, Gary Graffman, John Perry and Nelita True. He has performed with the Chicago Civic Orchestra and the Aspen Chamber Orchestra. Since 1990 he has lived and worked in New York City as a freelance pianist and accompanist. As an opera coach he spent the summers of 1991 and 1992 with the San Francisco Opera's Merola Program. He was appointed to the Yale faculty in the fall of 1992.
Producer: Kevin Hartman
Recording Engineer: Steven W. Lewis, Chicago Digital Audio Recording Services
Editor, Pre-mastering: Don Gates, Stasis Digital Editing
Assistant Producer: Steven Witser
Microphones: Neumann M-249 (tube), Schoeps 221-B (tube), Brüel & Kjaer 4006;
Console: Critical Audio 12 x 2 (custom made); 20 bit digital converters: Lexicon
20/20 AD, Swiss Stellamode D/A; Recorders: Panasonic SV-3900; Monitor
Speakers: Genelec
Recorded June 6, 7 and November 26, 27,1994 at Boutell Concert Hall, Northern Illinois University
Cover Design: Karen Berntsen
Cover Photo: Laurie Rubin
Tray Card Photo: "Giggin' on the Front Porch" (1971) Left to Right: Becky Fisher, Mark Fisher, Mark Lawson.
ALBANY RECORDS U.S.
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ALBANY RECORDS U.K.
Box 12, Warton, Carnforth, Lancashire LA5 9PD
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WARNING: COPYRIGHT SUBSISTS IN ALL RECORDINGS ISSUED UNDER THIS LABEL.
© 1995 ALBANY RECORDS
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