Last week, we read an article about the history of the brass quintets by Victor Ewald and Professor Manning asked us to answer some questions about the article. Here are my thoughts.
Q1. What did you know about Ewald and his brass quintet before reading this article?
A1: I knew very little about Ewald himself, but I had played most of his brass quintets (Qtets 1,3 and am currently working on 2 with my quintet). I knew that he was one of the premiere composers for quintet and that his work was considered standard and a staple of the quintet repertoire.
Q2. What did this article teach you about proper research?
A2. Professors always emphasize how important it is to check the accuracy of your research before writing it or passing the incorrect/flawed information along, but reading this article really brought this to light. The rumor that Ewald was responsible for creating the tone ideal boosted his original fame undeservedly (although his music is very good and indeed deserving of high praise).
Q3. What questions did this article raise?
A3. There is some question about which quintet was actually written first, as they ABQ performed the "Fourth" quintet last, but there is some historical evidence that suggests it is indeed the FIRST quintet that Ewald composed. Most people just read the score title and assume that because it is labeled 'fourth' that it is the last one, but this is not correct. I thought this was interesting, and I believe that most people assume the quintets are chronologically arranged numerically.
Q4. What are your thoughts on rotary vs. piston valve preferences mentioned in the article?
A4. I don't have much preference about rotary vs piston, mostly because I never use either of these. It is common for different countries to utilize different instruments in order to maintain the sound that that particular culture values, and if the rotary valve is the favorite of the player, then they should use it (and viceversa)
Q5. Do you agree with Forsyth who wrote, "There is in general no true legato on the trombone"
A5. As a trombonist, I found this question to be one that I feel strongly about. I believe that true legato should be defined by each instrument. For example, 'true legato' on piano still involves articulation, as the pianist must press a key and have the mallet strike the wire. No matter how slowly they press down, there will be an articulation. Or percussionists, for example. Timpani players may play a passage in a 'legato' or smooth articulation, but there will always be articulation present. The same is true of the trombone; it involves many articulations, but there are also natural slurs, in which a trombonist can smoothly move from one note to another without tonguing and without getting a glissando between the notes. The trickiest part is making the legato tonguing sound like natural slurs.
Q6. What are your thoughts about Smith's ideas on instrumentation mentioned on pg.13?
A6. Smith doesn't seem to present any major ideas, but he does discuss that the trombone serves multiple roles in the orchestra and he emphasizes that the trombonist must be a chameleon and adapt to whatever style of music they are performing. I also tend to agree that a rotor trombone doesn't generally serve much purpose in orchestral/chamber music.
Q7. In regards to the modern revival of Ewald's brass quintets, what roles did the following people play? Froides Werke, the American Brass Quintet, the Empire Brass Quintet?
A7. The American Brass Quintet was the first ensemble to perform these quintets as important works in the brass quintet world. Because of the high caliber of the musicians in the group, and the works themselves, the quintets were very well received and began their journey towards becoming part of the quintet classics. The Empire Brass Quintet played a huge role in straightening out historical facts by obtaining original copies of quintets No.2 & 3. Historical accuracy is of the utmost importance, and up until the point of the Empire Brass bringing the score back to America, Ewald had fallen out of the spotlight for his works.
These are just my thoughts/summaries of what I read in the article.
Thanks for reading@
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