Posted by Andrew on October 26, 2000 at 09:57:03:
In Reply to: Cesar Franck Symphony in D Minor posted by Sun on October 24, 2000 at 22:11:57:
Without any doubt the French, Belgian and Swiss orchestras of the 1880s played the standard "Tuba en Ut" a uniquely Gallic instrument with 3 + 3 piston valves and pitched a tone ABOVE the Bb euphonium!! The premiere of the symphony was on 17th Feb 1889 by the Societe des Concerts du Conservatoire in Paris....which means that this tiny instrument would definitely have played the part.
I personally think it's musically inappropriate to use a contrabass tuba to play this symphony. It's completely the wrong sound. But then the traditional French sound is lost these days in the globalisation of symphonic tonal concepts. People....especially players under 40....have never heard the difference in national traditions....unless they've heard old recordings. All the French composers wrote for specifically lighter and brighter sound resources and the headlong Teutonic/American rush in the last century to darker/bigger sounds is completely inappropriate for a substantial portion of the orchestral repetoire.
That's my little froth for today!