Welcome to our podcast. Band BFFs. The podcast
where we make your music selection less complicated.
On today's episode, we are going to be talking
about Hsien by Earl J. Fox Jr. Cheers to starting
the conversation. Okay, so this piece is about
three and a half minutes long. It's in the key
of A flat, so keep that in mind. It does have
two clarinet parts, two alto parts, two trumpet
parts, two trombone parts, a slew of percussion.
You can really, if you had a minimal amount of
percussion, you could get away with five, but
six is really, six or seven would be ideal to
make sure all the little accessory parts are
covered well. This piece was written in 2015.
So it's You know been around for a little while.
It's a Texas PML grade two And it's got us. It's
a slow fast slow. Yeah piece just in general
It's only about 90 measures long, but the slower
portion is a little bit longer It's not like
an eight measure intro and then it's fast the
rest of the time It's a little bit of both and
it calls for a flute soloist to clarinet soloist
and a trumpet soloist yeah so lots of yeah mature
items that would need to be present for sure
so as mentioned it starts off Adagio marked at
72 there's a flute solo a little clarinet it's
like a clarinet I don't know it's not a solo
it's kind of just echoing they just have to play
FDF FDF, they're just echoing to the flutes.
But there's a little motor part in second clarinet
doing the one and two and three and four and
at that tempo it's the only pulse going on in
the ensemble and it's real important that that
be in time and even. They're the metronome and
then percussion's just doing little accessory
things like suspended cymbal roll, little triangle
hits. The flute solo obviously is what needs
to be brought out. The rhythm is rest two e and
a three four long yes and that note has to go
all the way to the rest and you don't want any
of the slurs to sound clipped like Laura mentioned
that clarinet two part you want it to just sound
teach them a DAW syllable. Whole note air like
I would tell them whole note air through all
of that and we're just denting the air on those
two articulations per measure. Yep. It's just
the woodwinds playing at the beginning and then
at measure four as more voices come in euphonium
and alto sax have a little four -y and a one
that leads us into the next little section. So
you want to make sure that that's brought out
and moves right together. The first trumpet gets
to now double what the flutes had and then the
oboes come in as well and it's up high on C and
D for the trumpet part. And then we're continuing
on with like the clarinets doing that moving
metronomic part except now it's all the clarinets
and they're all playing the same thing. It's
in a nice range for clarinet. Oh, yeah, so it's
right now Yeah, right now exactly the flutes
and the trumpets are up pretty high So flutes
have like going up to a high E flat one and two
a one three four And that's probably the hardest
rhythm in the whole piece is just the dotted
eight sixteenths. Yeah, but they're always in
the slower rhythm Trumpets have the same thing.
So they're going up to a high F Then we're kind
of coming down Musically into measure nine where
we all want to release on beat one now. It's
a brass choir So it was a woodwind choir then
everybody played now to brass choir at nine now
Katie's already talked a little bit about this
But I'm addressing right here in measure eight
before we get to the brass choir and measure
nine in the flute oboe and trumpet We have a
tongue slur tongue slur tongue tongue while the
clarinets are slurring everything and you want
to make Absolute certain that they don't clip
the ends of those slurs like Katie was talking
about earlier in a two note slower like that,
your kids are gonna go tee -yah, tee -yah, especially
the trumpets as they're ascending, well they
all are ascending there, so be very mindful of
that. So now we're on the brass choir at nine
and the trumpets get the melody the trumpet one
And then the horn and the euphonium have a cool
little counter melody here. That is I would say
Equally as important as the melody and then the
trombone and trombone and tuba parts are just
kind of back for like harmonic harmonic chords
Yeah, but this is again where you don't want
anything to be like too short. So one two three
and one don't breathe two and three and four
so that's kind of tricky for trumpets right they're
gonna have to push their air through going from
the a to the upper D and keeping it in tune I'm
focusing a lot on that because this little thing
comes back and back and back where the trumpets
have to constantly go up from an a to a D and
be aware and be not flat so especially as I get
more tired at the end of the piece those D's
have to be like very in tune um I know I've adjudicated
this piece not often but a couple times and just
those upper D's in the trumpet if it's not exact
it bugs me so that could just be me but Who knows?
Like I mentioned, the euphoniums and horns have
this cool little doodly part where they're kind
of moving around a little bit. French horns are
going up to a high D, euphoniums are just going
to a G, but then even the tubas at 12 have one,
two, and three, and four, a one, and just keeping
that all moving right together is super critical.
And as legato as possible, like it is marked
legato, it says legato, but you know, I mean,
just keeping that as smooth as... possible especially
for brass players not to stereotype but sometimes
younger brass players see moving notes and they
think ooh tongue firm, tongue firm. So we want
it to be clearly defined but really smooth. Yep
now the alto clarinet and flute are doing what
the alto and the euphonium did before so now
they have four and a one and now we're back to
full band again at 13. The horn and euphonium
are continuing their little counter melody but
now we've added in alto two, and then the trumpets
are continuing their melody. But we've added
an alto one, clarinet one, clarinet, or sorry,
flute one, or flute, and oboe. So that's a lot
of people on the melody, and it's up pretty high
on everybody's instrument. So just making sure
again that we're cross -tuning and making everything
sound the same. At 16, we kind of come down a
little bit in our dynamic. And then at 17, we're
back to just a woodwind feature. have dropped
out. So we're back to flute oboe clarinet melody.
and this is about to be kind of towards the the
end of this little section but we're going to
crescendo one last time from 20 to 21 where the
brass come back in uh we're back to the trumpet
melody now the flute and clarinet have kind of
like a little obligato type melodic part it's
not the melody um the trumpets have the melody
but it's also not that counter melody that horn
and alto have it's just kind of like an in between
just a little bit more doodly one and two three
and a four and one and two and three four so
it's just got a little bit more movement to it
but it's got to be 100 % in time. Notice we haven't
said anything about percussion yet. There's been
no time keeping percussion. Yeah, so literally
this piece is so tricky because the band has
to be constantly counting one and two and not
slowing down, not speeding up. It's just kind
of tricky. And I would do exactly what Katie
just said. As we're rehearsing it, that's exactly
what I would turn the met off and I would make
the band accountable for counting out loud and
subdividing that pulse when they're not playing.
When you're not playing you should be saying
out loud one and two and three and four and or
whatever if you like a or whatever system you
like, but making the students accountable for
pulse and subdivision throughout this slow section.
Yep, because it's definitely needed. Then that's
again a four measure 2D section. Now we're back
to just the woodwinds at 25. We're getting slower
and slower. We're back to the flute and clarinet
little melody part just like the beginning, except
this time we're gonna end on a fermata note.
And it's just the flutes that have that last
fermata notes so the band has one three and they're
holding on three but the flutes have flute solo
one and two and three four so it's just a little
bit tricky you want to make sure you have a good
flute soloist who can be okay playing alone on
their own little part then you're gonna cut off
and the tempo is gonna go about twice as fast
144 and now the percussion It's very lively.
Very lively and very likely to play way too loud.
Yeah, so while the the style has changed and
we had this like real like contemplative, that's
the word, contemplative part, now it's like kind
of like the dance -y part, right? So it's more
energetic, it's fun, low brass, have the melody
now, and it's Mark Staccato. So this reminds
me, Katie and I were talking before, me very
much of Brave Spirit not only in the in the tonality
and like the the melodies but also the style
starting with that flute feature at the beginning
that's slow and then now we've got a faster paced
tempo with a lot of style and it's just it's
score it's it's written and orchestrated very
similarly I think to Brave Spirit yep so they
have staccato one and three and then an accent
four one two and three four one so over and over
you've got to really concentrate on those accents
versus the staccatos and all low brass have it
not low reeds just low brass including tuba Then
you have a long tenuto beat for for one so it's
basically the same thing over and over But you
are gonna have to line this up super well to
where everybody sounds the same But the snare
part is very very active underneath this part
and remains active the entire time that you are
in this fast section So it's got a lot of flames
a lot of flames a lot of flames accented flames
so like I would make Would be very intentional
about the student that you picked to play this
part, right? I would make sure it's marked forte
It does not need to be forte So make sure that
they can play with good control close to the
edge of the drum And I would even consider what
types of sticks they're using so like if they're
playing with just regular generals You might
consider a smaller beaded stick to give them
a little bit more articulation and control at
a softer dynamic level it's it's a lot. Then
there's a temple blocks part that comes back
at the end of each little melody part for the
lows here and so it's kind of fun and it sounds
like very you know... Common for this type of
yes, so it's it's a nice little part. But again
you want to bring that out each time You have
the temple blocks and snare can stay softer underneath
the low brass So the low brass have this twice
in a row and then at 37 the trumpets come in
with the melody again And it's very legato. Yes
So the lows are gonna come down in volume to
mezzo piano And now the trumpets are playing
it very smooth while they're doing their little
bouncy underneath But this is what I was talking
about before with going up to the high D like
in 39 It's over and over that in that melody.
You have to be in tune So just making sure that
your trumpets are very aware of that. They are
split trumpet parts So only the first trumpet
has the melody second trumpet has a harmony part
but it's just them. So now we still don't have
any woodwinds. At measure 44, we're going to
now go to everybody in in the woodwinds. So we
have Horn and Alto have one, two, three, four,
one, and then the flutes take over the melody,
along with clarinet. The entire clarinet section
comes in on a fifth line F. and the first clarinets
just continue to climb and they're up on a high
C and a high D over and over and over in this
melody. Yeah, so they don't have to sit up there
if they don't sound good up there. Right, or
find one child who might sound okay up there
and that's the one kid who gets to play it. Now
also I want to point out that the xylophone is
doubling This part right here on the melody and
it has them rolling on it So I would be I mean
make sure it says hard plastic mallets. I would
not do that with hard plastic mallets. It's gonna
go along with the like the legato style that
that all the other melodic instruments are playing
Yes, it will sound weird just find the find that
the color of mallet. I don't literally mean the
color but you know what the the aural color that
you like texture there you go well whatever tamber
tamber there it is the T word But find that to
make sure that that balances with the melody
appropriately. Yep. So now the only brass instrument
playing is horn and they're doing what the saxes
are doing. Now the low reeds have taken over
the short trombone, euphonium part. And like
I said, the flute and the clarinet are taking
over the melody. So the clarinet part, y 'all,
it goes up to C D C A G F A G So it's just way
up there. They are literally in the same like
range as the flute. So you have to make sure
that that's either in tune or the clarinet just
doesn't play that and only the flutes do. I remember
that that was very tough for the band that played
it. I mean, it makes me cringe looking at the
score going, oh my gosh, I can only imagine how
loud that would be. Yes. And we even had our
first clarinet. We had one first clarinet on
this part, one. And we had her sit in the second
row to make sure that her sound wasn't just like
piercing through the whole band. So you could
even do something like that. The horn part does
go up a little higher here, up to like a D. And
then at 51, trauma. bone does a little arpeggiated
thing one two three four one two three four one
it was just an arpeggio at the beginning but
it's like the melody part but then the horns
go up to a high F out of kind of nowhere like
a an announcement one and three four one and
it's a big yeah it's a big moment too and so
you want to make sure your horns can sound really
good there the upper woodwinds are just chilling
on a long note so this is kind of the part to
bring out at 53. Now the lows get the melody
and the tubas continue to do their little part
from before along with the low reeds. Everybody
else is on this just little one in and three
in and one in but the clarinets are doing it
on a high A and a high C. Yeah, yeah they are.
So maybe don't have them do that or take it down
an octave or I don't know what but it's like
it's flute, oboe, clarinet. All clarinet, all
trumpet on this exact part. And this is moving.
This is moving. Right. So like the clarity of
articulation and that range on that clarinet.
It's very difficult. So you're wanting to hear
trombone and euphonium and horn along with saxophone.
So if you can't hear them easily, then I would
put... 53 this is one on a part or whatever we
need to do to make sure we can hear that nice
tenor line as that's the melody. And mind you,
the snare drum is still going. It's still going.
So make sure that you're keeping that sweet little
baby under control. This part here at 53, it
can really start to sound noisy and out of control
if you don't just have the most perfect precision.
And so that's just so important. At 60 we're
leading into 61 with a big crescendo mostly from
the low people. Now at 61 the trumpets take over
the melody again. along with alto, sax, and horn.
And the tenor line, the trombone, euphonium part,
has a little counter melody. Flutes and clarinets
have gone to playing kind of what the clarinet
had at the beginning. One and two and three.
Hold on, hold on. But they have one and two and
three and four. And now we're not slow, we're
fast, right? So we really have to make sure that
this is accurate. the staff in the clarinet uh
-huh it's going up to a high C both parts friends
both parts both parts above the staff right so
that's not easy to do um so this might be another
part where you find one first clarinet and one
second clarinet that can play it in tune and
and call it a day i mean they're written higher
than well the flute part Sometimes they're well,
no, they're exactly like the flute. Yeah, the
exact same octave Yeah, so it's written well
for flute just up really really high for clarinet
I would I would hesitate to have many people
on this part If any you might want to consider
writing the whole thing down just so it doesn't
sound screechy From the clarinet and quite honestly,
I might even consider taking you know, one of
those clarinet parts and and Make changing it
to the melody a tenor part. Yeah, or an oboe
part or whatever because I write I just not needed
It's not the melody. So it needs to get out of
the way so we can hear the the horn and trumpet
part so this whole time in the horn and trumpet
part to the horns are playing like harmonic thing
with the trumpet too. So that's kind of the focal
point. Again, you want to make sure that we are
featuring the melody, a little bit of the low
brass and then very little of the flute clarinet
part and the snare part. We're continuing on
with this for a long time. We get to 69. It's
still the exact same thing. You want to make
sure also that your kids are not all breathing
in the same spots with the flute and clarinet
part. And since it is so doodly you can change
it. and you're breathing on even measures, you're
breathing on odd measures. And we have these
weird interjections, and not weird, but these
interjections of staccato notes in the midst
of the four slurred notes. It's repeatedly ta
-ta -ta -ta, but every once in a while you'll
have this staccato note kind of thrown in there.
So just being really, really mindful. Yeah, it's
it's very tricky. So we're continuing on with
this melody again Now trumpets are up into C's
and D's often over and over and over on this
melody And then we're getting into the end at
72. We have a roll and tondo. We're now slowing
down We have one two and it's kind of back and
forth where some of the band has a accent on
two Yeah, one two three four. Yeah, so we go
back and forth and the horns have this really
cool like I don't know, like a hunting call,
so they have like C, C, E, F, C, E, C. But the
C, C, F part needs to be kind of brought out.
It's like the last little thing. And now we're
getting softer and slower. We're doing the one,
two, three, four with the accents. I would probably.
Bop this part the first couple times you play
it to make sure it's slowing down on the same
beat together the the Active snare part is now
gone and it's rolling So you want to keep it
out of the rest of the percussion are participating
like bass drum and stuff So everyone needs to
be unified in right and then we are back to 72
our halftime at 81 and we're back to the same
thing from the beginning the clarinet has this
little exact same one yeah the flute has a melody
the trumpet now though has like a back -and -forth
with the flute in the clarinet and it's up high
CDC over and over so just you know and it's marked
one player trumpet is gonna be fatigued at this
point making sure that they're really in tune
making sure again that the flute player is watching
we have lost all that pulse in the snare so now
it's the band they have to really be listening
to each other the clarinet two part has that
same moving eighth note structure and then it
ends with just the flute part ending the last
little moment at 86 87 the clarinets kind of
finish it off with three and four and and then
everybody comes in at 88 like brass haven't been
playing for several measures everybody comes
in on the final chord piano with a fermata and
then percussion ends. with a beat three hit.
So it ends very delicately and you really have
to make sure the kids breathe together and play
together and it doesn't sound bumpy. But this
is a beautiful piece. Your kids will really enjoy
it. The melody is very catchy. I think they'll
buy into it. They'll enjoy playing it but I think
it is harder than it looks on the page. Absolutely.
I think you look at it and go oh yeah but there's
is some meat in this. This is a very good piece
though to really train up a few like little soloists.
Oh definitely. Everybody gets an important part
at some point so it's a good piece if you have
a pretty mature well -rounded band for sure.
Yeah I agree. Yeah well we hope you will enjoy
playing Cheyenne in the future and thank you
for joining us on this episode of Band BFFs.