Large Tuba and Euphonium Ensembles

 Symphonia

Symphonia was marketed as the first “professional” tuba-euphonium ensemble. The 20 member ensemble was first organized in 1995 by R. Winston Morris and Scott Watson. At the time, Morris was the professor of Tuba and Euphonium at Tennessee Tech where he was one of the pioneers of large tuba and euphonium ensembles. Watson was the professor of Tuba and Euphonium at Kansas and was aiming to create an ensemble that would be able to play intricate music for large tuba-euphonium ensembles. 

Members included some of the finest American tuba and euphonium artists including: Brian Bowman, Dan Perantoni, David Werden, Denis Winter, Earle Louder, Fritz Kaenzig, Gail Robertson, Henk Feldman, Jeffery Funderburk, Jerry Young, John Stevens, John Mueller, Larry Campbell, Mark Nelson, Marty Erickson, Neal Corwell, Paul Droste, Rex Martin, Sam Pilafian, Thomas Ashworth, and Timothy Northcut. The group release 3 albums and performed at many conferences in the late 90’s and early 2000s. The group has been all but defunct for the last 15 years. 

The recording I’d like to feature is Neal Corwell’s The Furies. This is one of my favorite pieces for large tuba/euphonium ensemble. The Furies is inspired by mythical creatures from Greek tragedies. These menacing creatures are usually depicted with bloodshot eyes, robes of black, and snake-like hair. Their function in these plays is to seek revenge for those that have been murdered. The music is therefore appropriately ominous, foreboding, and sometimes even threatening in nature.

 

Corwell uses angular melodies with dissonant chords to capture the essence of the Furies. He also uses non-traditional compositional techniques such as clapping, mouthpiece slaps, and shouts from the ensemble to add to the drama of the piece. The Furies was premiered and by Symphonia and recorded on their first album in 1995.  

Backburner Tuba and Euphonium Collective

Backburner has recently resurrected the spirit of Symphonia. The group was founded in 2019 and has performed at many conferences and festivals over the last 5 years, although the pandemic slowed their roll-out. They are also currently in the final stages of recording an album, which is due out this year. The group is conducted by Matthew Mireless who is extremely adept in conducting as well as euphonium playing. 

The group regularly features smaller sections of the ensemble. Sometimes it is almost chamber-esque with one player on a part. Often the tuba section will have a feature followed by the euphonium section. But the full power comes from the entire group performing something like this transcription of the Allegro from Shostakovich’s 10th Symphony. 

This arrangement, by Matthew Hightower, is expertly written and truly captures the spirit and intensity of the original. Backburner typically does more transcriptions than original works. However, the transcriptions are magnificent and truly worth checking this ensemble out.