Jim Self sheet music

8 Euphoniums

Euphoniums Unlimited was written for my long time friend Winston Morris who was putting together a new ensemble of euphonium virtuosi that he was calling Euphoniums Unlimited. He wanted all new music and asked me to write a short piece as the title tune for the recording. The result is a five minute work for eight-part euphonium ensemble that challenges all. The main "groove" of the work is a kind of modern reggae--hence it's subtitle, "Reggae for Eu-uns". It begins with a unison fanfare which leads into the first reggae statement. The seveal statements of the reggae have pentatonic melodies traded around in all the parts. Thease sections are puntuated by odd meter interludes, modulations, a modified return of the fanfare and a final coda section that propels the "groove" to the end. It should be fun for all. - Jim Self Learn More

6 Tubas and Percussion

Many years ago while searching for ancient artifacts in the basement of an artel in St. Petersburg, Russia I came across a dusty, water-stained music manuscript. It was a work for six tubas and percussion--without a title. After much magnification, I was able to piece together what was the original orchestration of Tchaikovsky’s Finale to his famous 4th Symphony. I could hardly believe my eyes. Every tubist knows that Tchaikovsky loved the tuba and wrote great parts for us, but to have conceived such a masterpiece for six tubas and percussion was astounding. I made it my life’s work to restore the manuscript and record it. Denials of its authenticity were everywhere but “I know Tchaik Four” and this is it—same notes, same key, same tempi, same bass drum part.

Great musicians came from far and wide--Chicago, Cookeville, Chatsworth--to help me realize my dream. We formed a group called Los Tubas which recorded the work and gave its live premier in Los Angeles, on my birthday, August 20, 1995. Los Tubas is a group of “loose” tuba players from Los Angeles who specialize in revivals, rehearsals, recreations, retrogressions and reaching out. Our main connection is that we all studied with or were influenced by Tommy Johnson (except Tommy, of course). Recorded by Loren Marsteller, Ernie Carlson, Euphoniums; Norman Pearson, Jim Self, Tommy Johnson, Gene Pokorny, Tubas; John Magnussen, Percussion; R.Winston Morris, Conductor; Shawn Murphy, Engineer (on the Jim Self "Big Stretch" CD). Learn More

Tuba Quartet (TTTT) and Vibraphone

In 1973, I had the good fortune to play the world premiere of Gunther Schuller’s Five Moods for Tuba Quartet. I later did an analysis of it as the final paper for my DMA at the University of Southern California. The Los Angeles Tuba Quartet (Roger Bobo, Tommy Johnson, Don Waldrop and I ) did the West Coast premiere in 1976. The LATQ later held a composition contest for new works for four tubas and the winner, Sieben Miniaturen fur Vier Tuben by German composer Gunter Kochan was premiered at the 1978 International Tuba-Euphonium Conference in Los Angeles. I later recorded the Kochan on my Summit CD, Changing Colors (playing all four parts). In 1993 my interest turned to writing a work for tuba quartet and the Schuller and Kochan were very much in my mind. Like them I wanted a group of short movements and, for variety, added a vibraphone. The result was “Poker Chips.” Each of the five movements is named after a poker term and has some rhythmic connection to it (i.e., Seven Card Stud is in 7/8 and 7/4 meters). The preferred instruments are F tubas on the first three parts, CC tuba on fourth and vibraphone with motor. Some improvisation in Trips to Win is required in the first tuba and the vibes–but it is simple modal harmony (G minor scales work well). “Poker Chips” was recorded on my Big Stretch CD by members of Los Tubas: Jim Self, Norm Pearson, Fred Greene and Gene Pokomy. Learn More

with Piano

Robert Schumann (1810-1856) wrote Scenes from Childhood, Op.15 in 1838 for his future wife Clara. His music, with its lyricism and extra-musical associations is often considered the height of romanticism. He wrote "I was thinking of children when I composed the pieces--but the titles were given afterwards and...are, in fact, nothing but directions for the performance of the music". This famous work for solo piano is in thirteen short descriptive pieces--seven of which are arranged here for tuba and piano.

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This bass tuba trio was written for my USC colleagues Norm Pearson, Doug Tornquist and me to play on a faculty recital we gave in 2018. It begins with a slow intro followed by a fast odd-meter romp section. Then a slow “pretty interlude that blends into fast section dominated by hemiola. The odd-meter romp returns and the piece ends with some high unison C’s and dissonant half steps. Lots of fun here!

Jim Self is a Los Angeles free-lance musician, a veteran of thousands of motion pictures, television shows and records, and tuba soloist on many prominent movies. He is Principal Tubist with the Pasadena and Pacific Symphonies, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and the Los Angeles Opera and Opera Pacific orchestras. His compositions and arrangements include works for solo tuba, brass quintet, and other brass and woodwind chamber music.

More about Jim and his recordings can be found here:

Basset Hound Music – http://www.bassethoundmusic.com 

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6 Euphoniums, 6 Tubas and 2 Percussion: written for Symphonia Learn More

Tuba Duet with 4 Trumpets, 4 Horns, 4 Trombones and 2 Percussion

Contra-Dictions was written for my long time friends Dan Perantoni and Bob Tucci, and for the Summit Brass. The work is scored for two solo tubas, two antiphonal brass sextets and two percussionists. It is 10 1/2 minutes long in three movements, tonal and modal sounding with lots of rhythmic fun for all. The movements are Oom Pas de Deux (a waltz for two oversized danseurs); Vis a' Vis (a ballad-slow and pretty with vibes and flugel horns); Au Contraire (march-like with lots of rhythmic energy, percussion and interplay between the antiphonal brass sextets and the soloists). The world premier was June 20, 1998 at the Raphael Mendez Brass Institute, Cincinatti Conservatory of Music. Learn More

with , Saxophone Quartet and Vaibraphone/Percussion: Written for Sergio Carolino Learn More

4 Trumpets, 4 Horns, 3 Trombones, Euphonium and 2 Tubas: Premiered by the Pacific Brass Ensemble Learn More

with Piano: Commissioned by Andy Malloy Learn More

EETTTT and 3 Percussion players

Fanfare for A Big Man was written for Tommy Johnson who passed away in October 2006. It was premiered on the Memorial Concert for Tommy held a the Unversity of Southern California on Dec, 3, 2006 and played the “99 Tubas”: a group of friends, former students and professional musicians—all deeply affected by his teaching and friendship. He was my teacher and mentor in Los Angeles and my colleague in the music business and at USC. The fanfare is a 2 minute tribute to Tommy with a reference to his oft heard warm-up using the Sherherazade theme and one to his famous solo from the movie Jaws. The score calls for 2 euphoniums, 2 bass tubas, 2 contra-bass tubas and 3 percussionists. It works well for large tuba-euphonium ensemble. Learn More

4 Trumpets, 4 Horns, 4 Trombones (2 double on Euphonium), 2 Tubas and 3 Percussion: Commissioned by the Pacific Brass Ensemble Learn More

Tuba and 4 Trombones

In the fall of 1995, Norm Pearson asked me to compose a piece for him that he could premier at the 1996 Brassfest. He wanted a piece for solo tuba and four trombones that would feature the L.A Philharmonic trombonists and one that other tubists could perform with their colleagues. With Norm’s particular technical and musical abilities in mind, I wrote Winks ‘n Jinks. The work is in one movement with many sections. A beginning fanfare is followed by section in 5/8 occupies the center a multi-textured funk section ina bouncy and lop-sided allegretto. The slow legato of the work. The longest and most demanding part is which polyrhythms predominate. While Winks ‘n Jinks is essentially a virtuoso work for solo tuba, the individual trombone parts are quite demanding. The bass trombone part is the true bass part–a role that I know all bass trombonists relish. The premiere was performed by Norm and trombonists Bill Booth, Byron Peebles, Andy Malloy and Jeff Reynolds. The title is a condensation of tiddlywinks and hi-jinks which describe the rather whimsical nature of the piece. Learn More

Eight Tubas and Drums

Woojoo, 
for 
Eight 
Tubas 
and 
Drums, 
was 
written 
for 
the 
2008/09 
tuba 
class 
at 
the
 USC 
Thornton 
School
 of 
Music.

 My
 colleague 
Norm 
Pearson
 and 
I 
had 
an
exceptional
 class
 that
 year—all
 eight
 had 
F 
tubas 
and
 plenty 
of 
chops 
and 
talent. 

I
decided 
to
 write 
a challenging 
piece 
as 
a 
class
 performance
 and 
recording
 project.
The 
piece 
is 
quadra‐phonic
 with
 four 
stations
 of
 two 
tubas 
each.
 In
 performance 
(and
especially
 as 
recorded) 
it 
gives
 a 
feeling
 of
 broad 
sonics 
and
 cascading
 figures—and
is 
best
 heard
 with 
an
 IPOD
 or
 headphones 
and 
may be
 performed
 in
 the 
round.

Woojoo 
was 
named 
by
 student,

 Zeewoong 
Munn
, and 
means 
“space’
 in
 Korean.
The
 performers
 (in
 score 
order) 
were 
Jon 
Hansen, 
Zeewoong 
Munn,
 David 
McLemore,
Danny
 Garcia, 
Steven 
Caron,
 Mike 
Musick,
 Lyndsey 
Hoh,
 Dave
 Holben
 and 
Brian
Foremen,
 drum
set. 
It 
was 
great 
experience
 in
 recording
 and
 preparing 
difficult
 music.

Throughout 
the 
piece
 I 
employ 
my
 love
 of 
odd‐meters 
with
 sudden
 rhythmic 
figures
giving 
the 
impression 
of
 odd‐meters.
Woojoo
 begins 
with
 a 

low 
intonation
 of
 the 
title,
“Woo—Joo” 
and
 a 
slow 
lyrical
 intro 
followed
 by 
the 
first 
large 
section
 at
 letter
 A—a
kind
 of 
loosely
 swinging
 funk
 groove
 with
 lots
 of 
interplay 
between
 the 
pairs
 of
 tubas
and 
drums.
 All
 of 
the 
tubas 
have 
wide 
range
 and 
technical
 challenges.
The
 second
large 
section 
(at
 letter 
H)
 is
 a
 series
 of
 showcase
 duets ‐‐ at
 times 
punctuated 
by 
the
other 
tubas. 
Underlying 
this 
is
 a
 repetitious 
6/8—3/4
 drum
 pattern.
 With 
the 
tubas
playing 
three 
against
 four
 and
 many 
other
 rhythmic
 complexities, 
the 
impression 
is
 one
 of
 shifting
 meters.

 Letter 
I 
is
 a 
set 
of
 overlapping 
and
 cascading 
figures 
followed
by 
more 
duets 
and 
a
re turn 
to 
the 
funk
 groove.
The
 third
 section
 uses
 REAL 
odd‐meters 
that
 constantly 
shift‐‐
ala
 Stravinsky‐‐building
 up 
to 
eight
 unison
 high 
Fs
 with
four
 tubas
 moving
 to
 high
 Gs 
for 
a 
tense,
 screaming
 high 
major
 2nd.

The 
final
 section
at 
letter
 P
 is
 a
 soft 
underlying
 hemiola 
figure 
of
 all
 Fs
 and
 Gs.
 On
 top 
of
 this
 we 
have
several
 improvised
 solos
 and
 some 
craziness
 as
 Woojoo 
fades 
out 
into 
space.

Woojoo
 was
 recorded 
on 
campus 
April
10‐11,
2009
 by
 USC
 professor
 Rick 
Schmunk,
assisted
 by
 Mike
 Musick.
The
 project
 was 
an
 interdisciplinary 
project
 in 
the
 Thornton
School
 of 
Music.
The 
live 
premier
 was
 on
 April
 27th 
at 
USC and 
conducted
 by 
Norm Pearson.
 Much
 video
 was 
shot
 at
 the
 recording
 sessions,
 performance
 and
casually
 for 
an
 upcoming
 video
 version
 of
 Woojoo.

It 
is
 8:24
 minutes
 in 
length.
 JS

(With
 good
 players 
Woojoo
 could
 be 
played
 with
 four
 pairs
 of
 one
 euphonium
 and
one 
tuba
 each 
and
 it
 would
 also
 work
 well 
for 
8
 Bass
 Trombones).

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Capuzzi’s Violone Concerto is a staple solo work for double bassists. It was written for the Violone (big viol), a five or six string predecessor to the double bass which, like the tuba, was a contra- bass instrument. This arrangement for Solo Tuba and Brass Quintet will give it new life and present tubists with a piece to perform with their brass colleagues. Giuseppe Antonio Capuzzi (1753-1818) was an Italian composer and violinist from Bergamo who, at times, lived in Venice and London. The work is a typical three movement classical concerto, fast-slow-fast. The Allegro moderato is in sonata form and opens with a brass quintet statement, solo tuba first theme, secondary theme and development. A tuba cadenza is followed by the recapitulation and an ending in the brass. The second movement is a beautiful Andante cantabile in the dominant. Short brass solos compliment the tuba throughout. The finale is a fast Rondo with a slightly slower section in the parallel minor. The movement ends with a technical flourish by the tuba and in all the brass. This piece works better for tuba than most transcriptions because doesn't require octave transpositions or an uncommonly high solo part.

James Gourlay and the River City Brass recorded this piece on their "Tour de Force" CD.

The Rondo was recorded by members of the Pacific Symphony Orchestra on Jim Self’s CD, Changing Colors--Summit DCD 132.

Performance suggestions: This music is “classical” and needs a delicate touch—especially in the brass quintet accompaniment. A sense of balance with the solo tuba is paramount and forte passages should be tempered. An Eb Trumpet might be a good choice for the 1st part. A good seating would be in a semi-circle, in score order with the tuba opposite the 1st trumpet-- bell out to the audience Learn More