Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Bydlo Question


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Posted by Richard on February 09, 2003 at 20:28:21:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Bydlo Question posted by Doc on February 09, 2003 at 15:02:37:

I would have expected Brian Fredericksen to have weighed in by now. Maybe he's out. In 1951 F tubas were no where near as common as they are today. Most players played everything on CC, or BB, and a few like Chester Roberts in Cleveland did most of the repertoire on F, and Vinal Smith in Boston apparently did everything on F.

Mr. Jacobs had at various times played Bydlo on his York. He once recalled to me an especially successful Ravinia performance for a generous and appreciative Pierre Monteux.

I think that Mr. Jacobs, for all of his intrepid self-confidence, was a great believer in the rule "discretion is the greater part of valor," and would have agreed with the sentiments attributed to his successor. He did not volunteer for the famous Bydlo in question here. In performances, a tacet trombonist had played the part, and then Kubelik had the sudden whimisical desire to have Mr. Jacobs play it on the recording. At the time, he had in his possession a Kruspe double BBb-F tuba. It turned out that the high G# was a more secure bullseye on the BBb side, but the rest of the solo was played on the F side.

In 1957, when faced with another Pictures recording under Reiner, Mr. Jacobs demurred after one rehearsal. At Reiner's very slow tempo, Mr. Jacobs did not feel he could guarantee a fully secure performance, even on a Geyerized Alex F. Without fuss or penalty, Reiner agreed to pass the part up the line.

So no tuba player should feel obligated to play Bydlo. Those who cite the French C tuba as it was known to Ravel are right. I actually had one in temporary possession for a few months. No wonder Ravel transcribed Bydlo for this instrument. This also explains some high excursions in d'Indy, Dutilleux, and others. It's also amazing that Honegger and Milhaud wrote so low, but the notes are there.

I once got to play Mahler 1st with Igor Markevitch who conducted extensively in Paris.
He asked me to play the third movement solo on a very small instrument, which by his description, had to be the French C. I told him no such instrument was available in New York, and he made a sour face. I told him I would try to get a smaller instrument than the one I was using (a Holton 6/4.) I borrowed a very compactly built 4/4 C, and he acknowledged the effort, but it still wasn't what he had wanted. The performance went very well though, and he did acknowledge that. Markevitch was a great maestro and working with him was a memorable experience.



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