Posted by John S. on February 08, 2002 at 12:23:54:
In Reply to: Arnold Jacobs posted by tin ear? on February 08, 2002 at 09:10:59:
Music is a continuously evolving art, and art does not evolve in a vacuum. Today's state of the art of tuba playing is the sum of all of the atainments of the great players of past and present. Also, styles of playing change over time, and what people are used to hearing now is not what was expected fifty years ago.
It's totaly unfair to judge historical recordings or players to todays standards, because everything that has been developed since is built upon what was done earlier. Arnold Jacobs was the model for the orchestral tuba sound that many players have hoped to better or equal for more than forty years, and you have to consider how much better he was than the majority of tuba players of his day. His reputation today rests upon his whole body of work during that period, not on any single recording.