Brass

Originally for French Horn, these duets have been edited by Bryan Doughty and will work for advnaced High School players as well as those in College.

Comes with play along CD.
Works well for euphonium as well, or euphonium and trumpet.

with Piano

From the editor:

Bel Canto is an elusive term to define. While it literally translates to beautiful voice, it was a style of singing that emphasized beauty of tone, flexibility, and ease of execution. The music written in this style was characterized by florid lines and an emphasis of musical line over text. The term bel canto was, interestingly enough, not used until the style had faded somewhat. Rossini, at a dinner party in 1858 said, “Alas for us, we have lost our bel canto.”

The 12 Vocalizzi in this volume have depth and stand on their own merit amongst the more serious works of Rossini. I recommend these as recital pieces without reservation. They are the equal to-albeit in a different style than-Rachmaninov’s famous Vocalise Op. 34 No. 14 and are ideal for either unaccompanied or accompanied performance, with the included piano accompaniment making them especially suitable for lessons, juries, and solo recitals. I hope you will enjoy working on these pieces as much as I have. They breathe fresh life into the somewhat stale world of bel-canto-for-brass repertoire.

with Piano

Bel Canto is an elusive term to define. While it literally translates to beautiful voice, it was a style of singing that emphasized beauty of tone, flexibility, and ease of execution. The music written in this style was characterized by florid lines and an emphasis of musical line over text. The term bel canto was, interestingly enough, not used until the style had faded somewhat. Rossini, at a dinner party in 1858 said, “Alas for us, we have lost our bel canto.”

The 12 Vocalizzi in this volume have depth and stand on their own merit amongst the more serious works of Rossini. I recommend these as recital pieces without reservation. They are the equal to- albeit in a different style than- Rachmaninov’s famous Vocalise Op. 34 No. 14 and are ideal for either unaccompanied or accompanied performance, with the included piano accompaniment making them especially suitable for lessons, juries, and solo recitals. I hope you will enjoy working on these pieces as much as I have. They breathe fresh life into the somewhat stale world of bel-canto-for-brass repertoire.

- Dr. Robert Benton

with Piano

2nd prize winner in the Composition Competition for the  2023 International Tuba-Euphonium Conference, in the category of Intermediate solo Tuba with Piano accompaniment, on the occasion of the celebration of 50th anniversary of the International Tuba-Euphonium Association (ITEA) 

2 tubas (or 2 bass trombones)

or tuba/bass trombone with downloadable backing tracks (downloads included for both parts 1 and 2) – recorded by Zach Collins

Concert Duets is a collection of 14 arrangements of works by prominent 18^th-century composers, mostly taken from Trio Sonatas. Duet 11 is a Jim Self original work in the Rococo style; and Duets 12, 13 and 14 are arrangements of the three-movements of the Bach Concerto for Two Violins. Included with this edition are play-along recorded tracks by tubist Zach Collins, who also served as editor of the current edition.

I created these duets as Christmas gifts for my tuba playing friends, with the first duet being arranged in 1976.  All 14 of the duets are challenging and fun to play and are especially effective as concert pieces.

As a young musician I had the privilege of playing duets with many of the world’s finest tubists including Harvey Phillips, John Fletcher, Bob Pallansch, Chester, Schmitz, Dan Perantoni, Toby Hanks, Ron Bishop, Winston Morris and Tommy Johnson. I learned more about playing music in these duo sessions than from any other musical activity I have ever experienced. Duets are powerful teaching tools for learning and mastering rhythm, phrasing and intonation and for developing overall musicianship.

Jim Self:

Self (b. 1943) is a Los Angeles free-lance musician, a veteran of thousands of Hollywood motion pictures, television shows and records, and tuba soloist on many prominent movies. His tuba was the “Voice of the Mothership” in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. He is Principal Tuba/Cimbasso with the Pacific and Pasadena Symphonies and the Los Angeles Opera and Hollywood Bowl Orchestras. Formerly he was in The U.S. Army Band and tuba / euphonium professor at the University of Tennessee. He holds a DMA from the USC Thornton School of Music where he is Adjunct Professor of Tuba and Chamber Music. His compositions and arrangements include works for solo tuba, brass quintet, other brass, string and woodwind chamber music, wind band and orchestra. Jim has produced many solo jazz and classical recordings. His music and recordings are available from Potenza Music and www.jimself.com. Jim Self is a Yamaha Performing Artist.

Zach Collins, editor:

Zach Collins is professor of Tuba and Euphonium at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. In 2019, he released his first solo album, Chronicle. It was recognized with the 2021 ITEA Roger Bobo Award for Excellence in Recording for the best Solo Tuba Album.

His interpretation of William Kraft’s Encounters II for Solo Tuba was released on Cambria Master Recordings. Zach performs with Eastern Standard, a horn, tuba, piano trio he formed with Heidi Lucas and Jacob Ertl. The ensemble has released two commercial albums, Eastern Standard and Wanderlust.

Zach regularly performs with the Keystone Chamber Winds, Altoona Symphony Orchestra, and West Virginia Symphony Orchestras. His compositions and arrangements for brass and for tuba and euphonium can be purchased from Cimarron Music and Eighth Note Publications. Zach earned degrees from Texas Christian University and the University of Southern California. His primary teachers have been Richard Murrow, Jim Self, Tommy Johnson, and Norm Pearson. Zach Collins is a Miraphone artist.