Re: question on C (not CC) tuba's


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Posted by Rick Denney on January 15, 2001 at 01:36:25:

In Reply to: question on C (not CC) tuba's posted by Brad on January 12, 2001 at 23:04:26:

The Small French Tuba in C was made by all the major French manufacturers from a little before the turn of the (last) century through the 1960's. Courtois was considered the best by many, but they were also supposedly made by others, like Thibouville-Lamy and Couesnon. They apparently stopped being the standard instrument in French orchestras in the 50's and 60's. All of them that I've seen in pictures were made by Courtois. Some are more tightly wrapped then others, and Stauffer shows two version in his book Treatise on the Tuba. Bevan had a picture of a Courtois on the cover of his first edition of The Tuba Family, and both old and new editions have a picture inside.

Stauffer mentions one professional player calling it a French Percolator.

I blew a few notes on one owned by Jay Rozen about a dozen years ago--the same night I blew some notes on a Besson Barlow F tuba (one of apparently very few). It felt and sounded like a euphonium, but I was using a euphonium mouthpiece. I don't recall the shank size, and I don't know what kind of mouthpiece was spec'd for the horn. Jay had used it to play the Bydlo (in the Jerusalem Sympony, if I'm remembering correctly), though he'd had to argue for it. The conductor wanted him to play it on his contrabass (a Miraphone 188), because he wanted a more unrefined sound. Jay informed him that it would be *plenty* unrefined on the French tuba.

Rick "who remembers mostly that they were heavy and hard to hold" Denney


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