Instrumentation: solo euphonium with CD accompaniment
Copyright: 1993
Duration: 12:30
Range: D to c-2
Difficulty: V
Publisher: Nicolai Music
Price: $20 (includes accompaniment CD and printed music with acc. cues)
PLUS ADDITIONAL SAVINGS: BUY ANY 2 PIECES WITH CD ACCOMPANIMENT & RECEIVE A 3RD PIECE WITH CD ACC. FREE!
a great opportunity to add to your music library!
Recorded by: Neal Corwell, euphonium (Distant Images CD, Nicolai Music)
Other Info: Premiered by Neal Corwell at the 1993 Southeast Brass Conference in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
TO PURCHASE
Simyeh is based upon thematic material drawn from authentic songs of the Blackfeet tribe, of which Simyeh was a tribal chief. The source of the songs was the book The Old North Trail by Walter McClintock. The musical structure for the work is comprised of three contiguous movements titled Prologue, Love Song, and Celebration. The opening Prologue is intended to capture the spiritual and mystical qualities that are such an important part of many Native American rituals. A seque is then made to the Indian Love Song, full of both tenderness and passion. The final section, Celebration, combines two themes found in McClintock's book: the Riding Song, and the Kissing Dance.
Though not an attempt to recreate authentic Native American music, Simyeh is intended as a tribute to the proud and dignified traditions of the Blackfeet tribe. In keeping with this intention, the composer has intentionally avoided the overuse of overtly modern "synthesized" sounds in creating the accompaniment tape. Instead, there is a heavy reliance on the timbres of acoustic instruments. The haunting sound of an authentic clay vessel flute is heard during all three sections of the composition while a guitar provides the principal accompaniment for the central section of the composition (the Love Song), and a battery of percussion instruments are used to maintain the rhythmic drive during the concluding Celebration.
An effective performance of Simyeh requires a performer with good endurance, good range, and a technical mastery of the euphonium. The prologue is a relatively simple controlled cadenza, which eventually descends below the bass clef staff, and the ensuing love song is lyrical with some long sustained passages in the high register. The conclusion, titled celebration, offers technical challenges such as meter changes, rapid interval leaps, fast slurred passages, lip glissandi between high and low registers, and double and triple-tonguing.