Regina Caeli Aichinger -- Brass to double vocal parts
  • vansensei
    Posts: 219
    Had an idea in a thread, so here it is.

    BRASS PLAYERS, PLEASE COMMENT!! If I'm doing something wrong
    Regina Caeli brass.pdf
    207K
  • vansensei
    Posts: 219
    This is for Bb trumpets, horn in F and trombone. Two C trumpets and two bones could read from the choral score.
  • SponsaChristi
    Posts: 402
    This piece was written to be sung acapella and is beautiful. I heard it done with instrumentation at a concert and it just sounded terrible and didn’t have the same angelic heavenly sound to it.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • GambaGamba
    Posts: 548

    This piece was written to be sung acapella….


    What’s your source on this? Aichinger lived 1564-1628. In this time period it was quite usual for some or all the vocal parts to be doubled, or even replaced by instruments, usually brass. No specific instrumental parts were written since none were needed. Aichinger was a student of Gabrieli, who did this to great effect in his multi-choral pieces for St. Mark’s, Venice. No way did he have enough singers to field 24 different parts in equal measure. The brass played a huge role in the “choral” music of this period.

    Now, the brass instruments of the 16th-17th c. were quite different – gentler and mellower then the big, bright instruments of today. So the players of vansensei’s arrangement will hopefully be aware of how to best emulate such a sound on modern instruments, and not blast away like it’s Sousa….
    Thanked by 1CharlesW
  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,086
    I'm a brass player, and it looks perfectly fine to me.
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,193
    I feel that a better doubling of parts would be by cornetto (on soprano) and 3 sackbuts. These would blend much better with the voices in this piece.

  • vansensei
    Posts: 219
    I actually agree. Unfortunately not feasible in a lot of places.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,980
    The 3 sack butts are probably altos.
  • jcr
    Posts: 139
    That actually reminds me of a terrible musician's joke about how to get an alto into a compact car, but I'll spare you the punchline.
    Thanked by 2CharlesW StimsonInRehab
  • ghmus7
    Posts: 1,483
    Polyphony was often accompianied, there was no monolithic practice. I suspect the same reasons were that we have today: ie the choir needs the help etc.
  • davido
    Posts: 942
    Unless you have a huge choir, you are probably better off doubling the parts on the organ, not with modern brass instruments. Few amateur choirs are loud enough to compete with orchestral brass instruments.
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen Anna_Bendiksen
  • StimsonInRehabStimsonInRehab
    Posts: 1,933
    The 3 sack butts are probably altos.


    "Does this alto part make my sack butt look big?"
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