Euphonium brings the past alive

Williams, David . The Charleston Gazette ; Charleston, W.V. [Charleston, W.V]25 Feb 1999: 4D.

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ABSTRACT (ABSTRACT)
Pop music has changed a bit in the last 100 years. In 1899, if you wanted to hear a good pop concert, you didn't go
try to scrape up tickets to Rod Stewart or 'N Sync. You went out and got tickets to hear a concert band play.

Euphonium soloist Neil Corwell will bring the past to the present when he joins the West Virginia State College
Symphonic Band for a performance of that type of late 19th-century fare at 8 p.m. Friday at State College's Davis
Hall in Institute.

British brass bands actually include separate parts for the baritone horn and the euphonium. The confusion in the
United States stems in part from the fact that most composers view the two instruments as interchangable.
Corwell says that the euphonium was a dominant solo instrument in the heyday of the American concert band.

FULL TEXT
FOR THE GAZETTE

Pop music has changed a bit in the last 100 years. In 1899, if you wanted to hear a good pop concert, you didn't go
try to scrape up tickets to Rod Stewart or 'N Sync. You went out and got tickets to hear a concert band play.

Yeah, that's right - a concert band, with the same instruments as your local high school band, but with topflight
professional musicians.

And one of the highlights of that band concert would be a performance by a soloist on a brass instrument. Maybe
a cornet, trombone - or euphonium.

Euphonium soloist Neil Corwell will bring the past to the present when he joins the West Virginia State College
Symphonic Band for a performance of that type of late 19th-century fare at 8 p.m. Friday at State College's Davis
Hall in Institute.

Corwell is a soft-spoken, friendly type. I imagine he has a solid core of patience in him. After all, euphonium players
need patience for that one question they hear over and over again.

What's a euphonium?

Most people think it is a baritone horn, a small, vaguely tubalike member of the trumpet family. But the euphonium
is a member of the tuba family. (Remember, tubas sit on the lap; that's the sousaphone that curls around a player's
body like a yawning python.)

The euphonium is also pitched an octave higher than the tuba. (In acoustic terms, that means it is half the size of

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the tuba.) It has four valves and a large conelike bell.

British brass bands actually include separate parts for the baritone horn and the euphonium. The confusion in the
United States stems in part from the fact that most composers view the two instruments as interchangable.
Corwell says that the euphonium was a dominant solo instrument in the heyday of the American concert band.

The jazz age and the growth of radio killed off most of the concert bands in the 1920s. But the tradition of flashy
solos for brass instruments survived, kept alive by professional military bands and fine wind band programs in
American colleges and universities.

Corwell went the military route to start his career, playing in the U.S. Army Band in Washington, D.C. Orchestras
don't include the euphonium in their usual instrumentation, so the top jobs for euphonium players are in the
service bands stationed around Washington. The best euphonium players in the country are all right there.

Corwell found himself in the middle of a renaissance of solo euphonium playing. "It probably started with Brian
Bowman in the 1970s," he said. "But now players aren't just playing the old, flashy variations that were the
repertoire in the 19th century. Modern composers are writing for the euphonium."

When he left the Army Band, he took a cue from the traveling virtuosos of the 19th century. He toured as a soloist,
playing his own compositions. But he gave it a modern twist - his compositions were often for euphonium and
synthesized electronic tape.

"Creating pieces for euphonium and tape made it so I didn't have to worry about working up music with an
accompanist," Corwell said. "I could come to the concert site, set up and play."

People liked his music so much that he received commissions to create larger works for euphonium and wind
band or orchestra. Now he divides his time between solo recitals, concerts with large ensembles and composition.

"I play 40 to 50 solo recitals a year, all of my own music," Corwell said. "I've got about 15 to 20 compositions for
euphonium or another brass instrument and tape.

"When I play with bands, I can do my original works {about eight to 10 now} or play from the standard euphonium
repertoire. For the concert at State, I'm doing the old warhorse variations on 'Napoli' and an arrangement of 'Danny
Boy.'"

As for composition, he's kept busy. "I feel comfortable writing for solo brasses and have been getting commissions
for more than pieces for me to play."

Corwell will have a new piece for tuba and band played at Morehead University in Kentucky next week and another
new piece played in Lexin gton, Ky., a few days after that.

But deep down, he may be even more interested in getting more kids to play his instrument.

"I spend a lot of time doing demonstration concerts at schools, where I'll set up and show what the instrument can
do," Corwell said. "The different sounds on the tape draw them in, but the euphonium is what they see."

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DETAILS

Publication title: The Charleston Gazette; Charleston, W.V.

Pages: 4D

Number of pages: 0

Publication year: 1999

Publication date: Feb 25, 1999

Section: News

Publisher: Charleston Newspapers

Place of publication: Charleston, W.V.

Country of publication: United States, Charleston, W.V.

Publication subject: General Interest Periodicals--United States

Source type: Newspapers

Language of publication: English

Document type: NEWSPAPER

ProQuest document ID: 330947899

Document URL: http://libgateway.susqu.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/33094

7899?accountid=28755

Copyright: Copyright Charleston Newspapers Feb 25, 1999

Last updated: 2017-11-05

Database: US Newsstream

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