Re: Re: Re: For Jay Bertolet/re:Bruckner 4


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Posted by Jay Bertolet on March 01, 2003 at 23:33:04:

In Reply to: Re: Re: For Jay Bertolet/re:Bruckner 4 posted by Andy on February 28, 2003 at 11:53:46:

The only flaw I see in your reasoning is stated in your first paragraph:

"However, if the contrabass tuba had been more prominent at that time, might Bruckner
called for it's use. I don't think we'll ever know the answer to this one."

We do know the answer to that question. Bruckner was aware of the differences between "Bass-Tuba" and "Kontra-Basstuba", as designated in the tuba parts from his symphonies. His last three symphonies specify the latter. Symphonies 4-6 specify Bass-Tuba. I've been told that there are versions of his later symphonies that specify different horns for different movements within a single symphony. Considering that, I think it is clear that Bruckner knew the differences between the two at least at some point during his career.

Now, you might say that he didn't know this at the time of the composition of his 4th symphony. And you might be right about that. But revising his works was never a problem for Bruckner. According to Torchinsky's Bruckner volume (#13), there were as many as 34 different versions of Bruckner symphonies in existence at one time. Bruckner was constantly revising his works. I've read the theories of musicologists who think that Bruckner suffered from depression, low self esteem, even autism. I think the evidence suggests that if Bruckner was exposed to contrabass tubas later in his career, he would have had no compunction changing the designation for bass tuba to contrabass tuba, even rewriting the part to fit the sound he wanted. The fact that he didn't change any of it, even though he clearly knew of both instruments, suggests to me that he specifically wanted the sound of a bass tuba and he purposely didn't change the designation.

All of which is one of the things that is so great about what we do. Everybody can have an opinion and we can discuss the merits of all viewpoints in the quest to learn more about the art we so dearly love. Nobody's really wrong because we all interpret the things we see and hear a little bit differently. I think it truely is the journey that matters, not the conclusions we reach.

By the way, the first performance last night went really well even though I don't think I played my best. I'm convinced more than ever that choosing the horn I did was the right move. I'll know even more so after tomorrow night's performance which is in the best acoustical space we ever perform in. This piece is a real experience!

My opinion for what it's worth...


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