Special Considerations:

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     Omar Thomas explains in the program notes, "'Emma Catherine' was composed as a gift to my trombone professor at James Madison University, Dr. Andrew Lankford, and for his wife, Dr. Heather Lankford, as they were expecting the birth of their first child, Emma Catherine Lankford. When spoken naturally, the syllables 'Emma Catherine' fall into a rhythmic pattern of two shorter notes followed by two longer notes. This became the primary rhythmic motive of the piece. At the premiere of the piece in the spring of 2004, Emma had just been born, and was able to hear the lullaby written in her honor."

     He goes on to explain, "This piece was originally written for trombone sextet and afterwards converted to a tuba quartet instrumentation via a commission by the University of Georgia Graduate Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble. Years later, I had the idea of creating a men's choir version and employing the lyrical talents of my friend, John Coons."​

     The piece can be performed with any combination of two euphoniums or two trombones on the upper parts and two tubas or two bass trombones on the lower parts. 

Emma Catherine requires a high level of technical proficiency due to the necessary range. The first euphonium and second euphonium parts go to a Bb four ledger lines above the staff (Bb4). The first tuba part reaches an F above the staff (F4). The second tuba part is the only part, which stays in a comfortable range of Ab below the staff (Ab1) to Eb on the staff (Eb3).

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Rehearsal Suggestions

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Musical Expression:

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     There are endless opportunities for musical expression in this lullaby setting. Allow musicians time to reflect on what a lullaby means to them. Share with them why this lullaby was composed. When ensemble members know the story behind the piece, it is easier to hear the love Omar Thomas poured into the music and understand what it represents. 

     Edward Lisk uses free-form expression to help musicians unlock their own musical expression. In Artistic Nuance, he outlines the benefits and instructional sequence for free-form expression and explains that this form of improvisation was born out of a desire to allow musicians to be free from any reference to notes, time signature, key signature, harmonic structure, or form. Without having to focus on these elements, players are able to connect their thoughts with a musical line, similar to telling a story.

     This concept should be introduced to musicians in an individual lesson or small group setting because when players begin to create their own melodies without any notation, they will be uncomfortable at first. It is important to encourage ensemble members that anything they play is correct. When you create a safe space for them to take risks, their natural musical intelligence will begin to flourish and shine. Have musicians play a slow melody. Allow players to begin on any comfortable note and experiment with different pitches and rhythms. Remind ensemble members to play slowly and listen to how the notes begin to form a musical line. After a few sessions, musicians will become more confident developing musical lines. At that point, you can start to encourage them to explore different styles of playing, starting with a lullaby or ballad. After musicians have unlocked musical expression through their improvised lullabies, they will be able to apply the same emotions when playing Emma Catherine. 

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Tonality/Intonation:

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     This lullaby is written in the key of concert Eb major. Emma Catherine starts with traditional harmonies and later explores jazz tonalities. The beautiful chords that Omar Thomas has written will only be realized if ensemble members perform with flawless intonation. 

     Edward Lisk provides an extremely detailed explanation of the hows and whys of the tuning process in many of his books, including The Creative Director: Conductor, Teacher, Leader. 

     It is best to set a pitch from either a drone or a tuba. A drone is advantageous, if possible, because it provides a consistent pitch. Using the Yamaha Harmony Director HD 200 keyboard is helpful for hearing chords in just intonation and tuning them accordingly.   

     Concert F is the best pitch for tuning because of the overtone series and where it lies on the instruments. Begin tuning with one of the tubas and then tune the other tuba. Next have the euphoniums tune (one at a time) while the tubas keep playing the pitch. It is not necessary for the musicians to know if they are flat or sharp because they only need to listen for beats in the sound. If they are pinching the embouchure to slow down beats, they are flat and if they are relaxing the embouchure to slow down beats, they are sharp. They can adjust their instrument by moving the tuning slides in or out. They need to identify if the beats got slower or faster. Faster beats means to go the opposite direction on the instrument and slower beats means to continue in the same direction until the beats have been eliminated. When musicians are perfectly in tune, their sound is indistinguishable from the sound of the rest of their section.  

     After musicians have tuned, they can explore intonation in all keys by using the Circle of 4ths from Edward Lisk's Alternative Rehearsal Techniques - Creative Director Series. Assign each player to a group 1-4. Euphonium 1 will be group 1, euphonium 2 will be group 2, tuba 1 will be group 3, and tuba 2 will be group 4. Have groups 1 and 4 play concert F, group 2 play concert C, and group 3 play concert A. After musicians have played major chords around the Circle of 4ths, the same process can be repeated with minor chords and then seventh chords (by assigning group 1 to the seventh of the chord). 

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