Posted by PersonfromoutsideU.S on June 17, 2003 at 23:46:18:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: use of F tubas in Europe posted by Rick Denney on June 17, 2003 at 11:08:54:
I haven't heard the Jacobs Vauhgan-Williams and can tell you now I probably wouldn't like it. (I can't stand his playing.) However I would like to comment on the different players around the place. Germans tend to favour F tubas due to the fact that most of the wagner operas (Meistersinger, Lohengrin, Parsifal, and a few others) were written for bass Tuba. This is the tuba's in F, and I'm told, CC. Contra-bass tuba's are the B Flat monsters. I know of some wierd concepts that have come out of Europe ( Fountains and Mahler six on F tuba for the audition but the big horn on the job!!), but there are equally as many out of the U.S.(CC Tuba for Meistersingers??)
There's a DVD out of Berlin Phil with Rattle playing Mahler's 5th. Paul Humpel uses two tuba's and frequently switches between the two. Dave Glidden plays with Saarbrucken Radio, and uses a 5/4 B Flat for EVERYTHING! (Bydlo included). Jens Bjorn-Larsen (Danish National, but teaches in Hannover) uses an F and a York Brunner CC. Robin Haggart (Royal Liverpool Phil) plays E Flat and a Pt-6. He also played in the European Youth Orchestra with Abbado for two years, and spent two-weeks with Berlin, He played all of this on an E Flat. The Tubist with Moscow Radio plays a four quarter cerveny CC, while the Tuist with the Israel Philharmonic plays a 6/4 Nirschl. Steve Rosse, of the Sydney Symphony (Boston Finalist twice) regularly switches between his 6/4 Nirschl, a 5/4 Rudy B Flat and his Melton F, depending on the repertoire. The general feeling outside of the U.S tends to be that you use different horns for different composers. Bruckner, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, some Wagner, all on B Flat. Mahler, Sibelius, and Prokofiev, on Double CC, while Berlioz, Berg, and some more Wagner on F/E Flat. There are also variations on all this depending on the orchestra, the conductor, the rest of the brass section, and the symphony (ie,Bruckner 4, or Mahler 6). It really is horses for courses, with the main consideration always being the sound quality.
And then there's the U.S. Double CC tuba please!! ( No sledge intended, but we don't see U.S tubist's using anything in orchestra's other than CC's)Any info would be helpful!!