Description
Euphoniums Unlimited was written for my long time friend Winston Morris who was putting together a new ensemble of euphonium virtuosi that he was calling Euphoniums Unlimited. He wanted all new music and asked me to write a short piece as the title tune for the recording. The result is a five minute work for eight–part euphonium ensemble that challenges all. The main “groove“ of the work is a kind of modern reggae–hence it‘s subtitle, “Reggae for Eu-uns“. It begins with a unison fanfare which leads into the first reggae statement. The seveal statements of the reggae have pentatonic melodies traded around in all the parts. Thease sections are puntuated by odd meter interludes, modulations, a modified return of the fanfare and a final coda section that propels the “groove“ to the end. It should be fun for all.
Jim Self is a Los Angeles free-lance musician, a veteran of thousands of motion pictures, television shows and records, and tuba soloist on many prominent movies. He is Principal Tubist with the Pasadena and Pacific Symphonies, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and the Los Angeles Opera and Opera Pacific orchestras. His compositions and arrangements include works for solo tuba, brass quintet, and other brass and woodwind chamber music.
More about Jim and his recordings can be found here:
Basset Hound Music – http://www.bassethoundmusic.com
