Posted by Steve Dedman on September 05, 2001 at 18:48:01:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Seating Question posted by Carl on September 05, 2001 at 16:02:41:
Berlioz hittin' the opium pipe again.
Had he left explicit instructions regarding his intent in this particular instance, that stance holds sway. However, since there is such a gray area here, we are left with no choice but to experiment. Why?
We know that two tubas was not the original scoring, since the original scoring pre-dated the patent of the tuba. So for the purists among us, this is the LEAST plausible scenario. The conventional wisdom is that SF was scored for one ophicleide in Bb, and one in C to offset the inherent intonational problems of each. This type of original performance is generally not going to happen very often, due to the dearth of ophicleide players and ophicleides that can play and be played in tune. I seriously doubt if there are two good ophicleide players with quality instruments located in all of the cities where the SF could reasonably be expected to be performed. The same statement applies to performances involving serpents. And I don't think there are very many ophicleide/serpent players that could balance the modern brass section of very many reputable professional orchestras.
With the off-the-cuff choices ruled out by process of elimination, what choices are left? At some point, someone has to experiment to see what might produce a texture similar to 2 ophicleides, with the modern power and intonation required by today's orchestral demands. Perhaps it is a euphonium and a bass tuba. Maybe it's two french C tubas. Maybe it's one french C, and one Bb euph.
But we'll never know unless, 1) Berlioz comes back from the dead to tell us, or 2) people experiment to find the best combination of instruments.