Posted by Matt A. on September 17, 2000 at 20:32:29:
My girlfriend is taking a basic musicology class this semester at the University of Michigan. I took a look at the definition of a tuba in her book, "Listen" by Joseph Kerman, and this is what is says:
"Tuba The bass tuba is typically used as a foundation for the trombone group in an orchestra. It is less flexible than other brass instruments. And like most other deep bass instruments, it is not favored for solo work."
To me, this definition is extremely narrow minded, and does not help with the pursuit of widening people's perception of the tuba. In fact I was thinking of writing the author of this book and refering him to vaughn williams. People thought he was crazy when he wrote a tuba concerto, but look how amazingly pretty that concerto is! What do you think? Any way we can start a camaign in this election year to give the tuba a better image? Hire a PR firm?
Matt Adler