by Douglas Yeo (December 13, 2023)
Readers of TheLastTrombone will remember that in May/June 2023, I traveled to Arizona State University to take part in the 50th Anniversary International Tuba Euphonium Conference. The conference, sponsored every other year by the International Tuba Euphonium Association, was hosted by my good friend, Deanna Swoboda, tuba professor at ASU. While there, I gave a presentation about the Native American Sousaphone player John Kuhn and I also played a recital of music that featured that most unusual of musical instruments, the serpent.
Finding a practice room at a conference can be challenging, so I warmed up before my recital outside the Arizona State University music building. Photo by Tom Hentschel.
The serpent is an instrument that needs to be both seen and heard to be understood. I’ve written about it before on TheLastTrombone, in First Music Monday with the serpent (January 4, 2017), Residency at Bowling Green State University: serpent, trombone and a face cake (April 8, 2017), and Reformation: Luther, Mendelssohn, and the serpent (November 11, 2017), in addition to the article I wrote in anticipation of the 2023 International Tuba Euphonium Conference, Entering the tuba/euphonium universe: ITEC 2023.
Douglas Yeo, serpent, in performance with pianist Susan Wass, piano. Katzin Concert Hall, Arizona State University. Photo by Tom Hentschel.
The ITEC serpent concert was a happy success thanks to the collaborative artists who worked with me on the program. Our concert included two works for serpent and piano on which Susan Wass accompanied me on piano, and two works for a small chamber group of wind instruments.
In rehearsal with Curtis Sellers and Martin Schuring, oboe; Josh Gardner and Stefanie Gardner, clarinet; Jason Caslor, conductor (standing), Bailey Hendley, horn; Jamal Duncan, conductor (standing); Isabella Kolasinski, horn; Albie Micklich, bassoon; Harrison Cody, bassoon (standing); Michelle Fletcher, bassoon; Douglas Yeo, serpent. Katzin Concert Hall, Arizona State University.
As you can see from the microphones in the photos above, our concert was recorded by Central Sound at Arizona PBS. I’ve had an affiliation with Central Sound since 2016 when I began working for the weekly radio show, Arizona Encore, broadcast on KBAQ-FM, Phoenix, every Tuesday evening at 7:00. The show is also available on demand on the Arizona PBS website. I started my work for the show when my wife and I lived in Arizona (I wrote about this on TheLastTrombone on September 23, 2016) and I’ve continued to host the show periodically since we moved to the Chicago area in 2018. I enjoy researching and writing the scripts and recording the shows, and in the process, I’ve learned a lot about many superb performers and the music they play.
When our ITEC serpent recital was packaged for an Arizona Encore show, my producer asked if I would write the script and host the program. Yes! And I’m happy to say the program, which was first broadcast on KBAQ-FM on December 5, 2023, is now available on the Arizona Encore page on the Arizona PBS website. Click HERE or click the image above to go to the Arizona Encore serpent program page and hear the show. Here is the playlist for the show, that, in addition to three pieces from my serpent recital at ITEC 2023, includes a performance by the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music Wind Ensemble:
I. Introduction and Rondo
II. Pastoral Nocturne
III. Dance Variations
• Clifford Bevan – Variations on “The Pesky Sarpent” – Douglas Yeo, serpent; Susan Wass, piano
• attributed to Joseph Haydn – Divertimento in B-flat (Chorale St. Antoni), Hob. II/46 – Joshua Gardner and Stefanie Gardner, clarinet; Albie Micklich, Michelle Fletcher, and Harrison Cody, bassoon; Isabella Kolasinski and Bailey Hendley, horn; Douglas Yeo, serpent; Jamal Duncan, conductor.
I. Allegro con spirito
II. Andante
III. Menuetto
IV. Rondo-Allegretto
• Johann Neopmuk Hummel – Partita in E-flat – Martin Schuring and Curtis Sellers, oboe; Joshua Gardner and Stefanie Gardner, clarinet; Albie Micklich, Michelle Fletcher, bassoon; Isabella Kolasinski and Bailey Hendley, horn; Douglas Yeo, serpent; Jason Caslor, conductor.
I. Allegro con spirito
II. Andante piu tosto-Allegretto
III. Vivace assai
Have a listen and enjoy a foray into the world of the serpent, an instrument that’s so old it’s new.
Performance of the Partita in E-flat of Johann Nepomuk Hummel – Joshua Gardner and Stefanie Gardner, clarinet; Isabella Kolasinski and Bailey Hendley, horn; Albie Micklich, Michelle Fletcher, and Harrison Cody, bassoon; Douglas Yeo, serpent; Jamal Duncan, conductor. Katzin Concert Hall, Arizona State University. Photo by Tom Hentschel.
The Last Trombone – Douglas Yeo 