Re: Re: Seating Question


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Posted by Rick Denney on September 05, 2001 at 09:41:27:

In Reply to: Re: Seating Question posted by Zac on September 04, 2001 at 20:53:00:

I'm glad that they teach music history along with performance (NOT!).

The history has been amply described in this thread. Have you ever heard an ophicleide played well? Do you know what they sound like? I can recommend the performance conducted by Roger Norrington, on the Reflexe label (EMI, I think), which is done with original instruments. It will change your perspective. For example, is the Dies Irae supposed to be dominated by tuba sound? The answer is no. The blend between the ophicleides and bassoon is thin, mysterious, and macabre. It is a Dies Irae, after all. The tuba sound is too, well, Sousa for this part. Even two small F tubas tend to be too smooth, but will work if the players have the right concept going in.

I'm sometimes embarrassed by how much more I, a nearly tone-deaf engineer, knows about the music compared to the fabulously technical players who take what's written by some editor fifty years after it was written as gospel truth, maybe or maybe not even with Berlioz's approval.

Rick "thinking some tuba players have egos as big as their horns" Denney


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