What was new at yeodoug.com in 2006?

Jay Krush (of the Chestnut Brass Company) and I played ophicleide in the performance and I also played serpent in the opening statements of the "Dies irae," following Berlioz's original intentions. During Kelly's lecture, I also came to the apron of the stage where I spoke a bit on the history of the serpent and then played the "Dies irae" on serpent with a group of six male singers from Harvard, simulating performance in a French church of the time. I played his Monk Workshop serpent (1996, London, walnut, 1 key) and Roehn ophicleide (c. 1855, Paris, in C, 9 keys) and Jay played his Butler and Son ophicleide (c. 1860, Soho, London, in C, 11 keys). It was a great pleasure to work once again with Jay Krush, a tremendous person and musician, and to hear this movement of Berlioz's "Sinfonie" with period instruments (I had previously played the fourth movement of the "Sinfonie" for the same class at Harvard in 2002) was enlightening.

Trombonist Howard Knapp obtained copies of these recordings and when I was made aware of them, we learned that they are the earliest known recordings by any group of players from the Boston Symphony Orchestra. These historical recordings caught the attention of both the Boston Globe newspaper and Boston radio station WGBH. On October 21, the Boston Globe ran a lengthy story about the recordings by Geoff Edgers on page one of its "Living/Arts" section and on October 22, I was interviewed on WGBH radio when host Ron della Chiesa and I discussed the recordings and the players and the recordings were aired, perhaps for the first time. All of this coincided nicely with the 125th anniversary of the Boston Symphony which gave its first concert on October 22, 1881.

I have written a new article about these recordings, The Boston Symphony Orchestra Trombone Quartet: The 1906 Victor Recordings which includes many photos, archival documents from the Boston Symphony and BMG (Victor) archives, commentary and mp3 files of these important recordings. Research is ongoing and I expect to be updating this article from time to time as we learn more about the recordings and the players who were part of making history as a result.

Yesterday the New England Brass Band (NEBB), of which I am music director, competed at the 24th North American Brass Band Championships held on the campus of Indiana Unviersity Southeast in New Albany, Indiana (across the river from Louisville, Kentucky). Sponsored by the North American Brass Band Association, this year's contest was the fourth time the NEBB had particpated. In 2004, the NEBB took first place in the "Challenge" section at NABBA XXII (see my commentary below for April 17, 2004, for my thoughts on that contest victory). This year, the band decided to move up to the "Honors" section which meant being in a more competitive section and having to play significantly more difficult music. The test piece for the Honors section this year was Gilbert Vinter's "Spectrum" and we played Philip Sparke's "The Year of the Dragon" to fill out our contest program. At the awards ceremony after the contest, we were thrilled to have our band announced as the winner of the Honors section. Running up to the stage to accept the trophy (the photo at left shows my wife and me with the first place trophy) and banner (the photo at right shows me accepting the banner and trophy which was presented by NABBA President Anita Cocker Hunt) was an unforgettable moment - looking out at our band members who were standing and cheering I could only think what a privilege it is to work each week with such a talented and committed group of people. Brass banding, to me, represents the best of the amateur music world. Players getting together not for money but simply to make music together. The NABBA contest is a special way for us to interact with people in other bands from around the country and to spend more time with our own band members as we eat meals, travel and play together. Our hosts at Indiana University Southeast organized an excellent weekend which included a solo and small ensemble contest as well. NEBB Eflat bass player Mark Fabulich won third place in the Adult Low Instrument Slow Melody solo contest and the band's flugelhorn player, Kevin Maloney, won third place in the Adult High Instrument Slow Melody solo contest. In all it was a special weekend for all of us in the New England Brass Band and one which found the band growing musically and inter-personally. Full results of the contest can be found on the NABBA Music Resources Website and a full report about the contest can be found on the website of 4BarsRest.com.

To the members of the NEBB I am happy to say, once again, how proud I am of all of you and how fortunate I am to be the leader of a band full of such high quality individuals.

Reprinted from the Boston Symphony Orchestra Program Book, March 15 - May 6, 2006.

Celebrating Berlioz: A Special Display at Symphony Hall, Boston.

No single composer has been more closely identified with the Boston Symphony Orchestra than Hector Berlioz (1803-1869). Championed here in the past half-century particularly by Charles Munch and Seiji Ozawa, Berlioz's music continues to figure prominently in the BSO's programming under James Levine, who led Berlioz's "Le Corsaire" Overture and "Symphonie fantastique" earlier this season and has scheduled "La Damnation de Faust" for 2006-07. This April, guest conductor Rafael Frubeck de Burgos leads the composer's monumental Requiem. BSO bass trombonist Douglas Yeo, a great admirer of Berlioz who has played trombone, serpent and ophicleide in Berlioz performances with the BSO and a number of period-instrument orchestras, has an extensive collection of Berlioz memorabilia, books, and facsimile scores. The display cases in the Massachusetts Avenue corridor of Symphony Hall include a selection of items from Mr. Yeo's collection, among them an original letter by Berlioz, commemorative medals struck for the Berlioz centennial in 1903, and photographs of the composer, as well as various facsimile scores that afford insight into Berlioz's compositional process. The exhibit runs from March 15 - May 6, 2006.