Posted by Jay Bertolet on December 23, 1998 at 11:34:46:
In Reply to: question about orchestral tuba literature posted by sam on December 22, 1998 at 18:15:19:
Congrats on getting the opportunity to play with a good orchestra, it is always a pleasure! Anyhow, I agree with the previous posts in that a CC tuba would be the first choice for all these pieces. I would also suggest that you check into both the conductor of the orchestra as well as the current tubist. Alot of the European conductors (Kurt Masur, Von Dognanyi(sp?), etc.) prefer an F tuba sound. By checking out what the current player is using, you would get a pretty good idea of what the conductor expects. Also, don't be intimidated to just ask the conductor what he wants. I've never worked with a conductor who didn't want to tell a tubist what kind of sound he wanted. Besides, it couldn't hurt to give the conductor the choice if you are comfortable playing these works on both horns. Finally, maybe you could listen to a recording of the orchestra to get an idea of what kind of sound they make. The surest way to get asked back to play with a group is to make the players happy with your performance as a sub. That means blending with the section and not creating any problems. Don't go in trying to hit a home run and be a star. Impress the players around you with your ensemble skills and your command of basic fundamentals (intonation, sound quality, articulation, etc.). My opinion, for what its worth...