Senior Honors Recital

Author(s)

Mark Maguire, University of Rhode IslandFollow

Advisor

Cardany, Brian [faculty advisor, Department of Music

Date

5-2008

Keywords

music; recital; composition

Abstract

I have always enjoyed the challenge music has given me. I have found very few disciplines that can give a work ethic while engaging one’s emotions. Music connects the analytical left side of the brain while uniting itself with the expressive right side of the brain. I began playing trumpet at ten years old and switched to the euphonium (a lower brass instrument with the range of a trombone but the sound of a French horn) in sixth grade when I got braces. I loved band. I learned how to improve my own playing ability while working with a team. It soon became evident to me that music education was my calling. I explored music education from an academic perspective and continued to play in college. Through college I was learning about the education process and how music education fits into a curriculum. It was all very interesting but I had never had much of an opportunity to write much music. Writing music was homework exercises for music theory classes. Practical, yet not emotional. As I started to plan for my senior recital and my honors project, I saw an opportunity to fulfill my desire to write music, specifically for my euphonium (Greek for sweetly sounded). The solo euphonium repertoire is so limited since the instrument has only existed for 140 years and its purpose in an ensemble is more functional and harmonic rather than melodic. There was a unique convergence of needs; a desire to write music, performing a recital, and completing my senior project. I began to look for inspiration for my recital and one came along. Johann Sebastian Bach’s Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in d minor, a solo violin piece, was a perfect choice to arrange for the euphonium because of its gorgeous flowing lines and technical demand. Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique gave another prospect for arranging for the euphonium. The Sheppard’s Duet from the third movement was originally written from oboe and English horn, but was arranged for euphonium and tuba with an electronic recording as well. The electronic recording was filled with wind and birds chirping; it brought the concert hall outside into the fields of Berlioz’s symphony. The final piece of the recital was the only piece originally written for the euphonium. Potiyenko’s Konzert für Euphonium is a marvelous piece for the euphonium, packed with romantic melodies and avant-garde harmonics. My project will follow the transformation of both Bach and Berlioz’s works into recital arrangements for the euphonium, as well as the performance of the recital itself.