The Valley Concert Society is excited to welcome Buzz Brass to the stage of the Matsqui Centennial Auditorium on Thursday, January 22, at 7:30 p.m. The Montreal-based quintet, founded by Sylvain Lapointe, has been entertaining audiences since 2002.
Brass quintets that have appeared in the Valley Concert Society series over the years have come with a standard set of instruments: two trumpets, French horn, trombone, and tuba. This group comes with a difference. Instead of a tuba, the other Sylvain in Buzz Brass, Sylvain Arseneau, plays the bass trombone.
While the instruments look very different, they both provide the lowest sounds in the ensemble. They play a roughly similar range of pitches although the tuba can go lower while the bass trombone can reach a higher pitch.
If you were to straighten out all the bends and curves in both instruments, the tuba would be nearly twice as long as the bass trombone. The tuba’s bell, the flared opening of the instrument, is larger than that of the bass trombone.
The tone quality of the tuba is deeper and more mellow while the bass trombone produces a clearer, more pointed sound. In consequence, the tuba adds a stronger foundation to the sound while the bass trombone is more agile and can handle a melody more easily than its larger counterpart.
It will be interesting to compare the sound produced by Buzz Brass with that of other brass quintets. Another fascinating comparison will be that between Sylvain’s bass trombone and its smaller cousin, the tenor trombone played by Blaise Margail when they play such contrasting pieces as Debussy’s dreamy Girl with the Flaxen Hair and Khachaturian’s rambunctious Sabre Dance,
Tickets for this concert are available online at www.valleyconcertsociety.com at $32 for adults and $20 for students. For more information, call 604-289-3377.