Re: Tuba Meisters Polkas


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Posted by Rick Denney on February 15, 2001 at 13:27:48:

In Reply to: Tuba Meisters Polkas posted by Tuba John on February 14, 2001 at 20:34:17:

What they are worth the market will decide.

But are they usable music? You betcha.

Ray Grim is an accomplished player and highly experienced arranger, having arranged hundreds of tunes for tuba quartet. You will not find the usual mistakes made in tuba arrangements here, such as thirds of chords below the staff and the like.

Most of these polkas were arranged for the TubaMeisters when we played at Fiesta Texas in 1992, and have been tested over literally hundreds of public performances. A few of the tunes have been arranged since that time.

I have personally played ten of the 15 arrangement in the book. Some of them (Barbara Polka, Wenzel Polka, for example) are good, solid fillers for any beer-tent gig play list. These sound good and give the players a little rest. Others, like the Clarinet Polka (where the first euphonium is featured) are showpieces. Still others are designed to get people on their feet, such as for a closer, or to get them singing because of their familiarity. These include the Pennsylvania, Liechtensteiner, Beer Barrel and Kiss polkas.

In short, what you have is a complete polka set in a box, tested an ready to use.

Rick "former TubaMeister" Denney


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