Hans, Thank you for putting so well my own thoughts on these desperately compromised instruments. As you say, they have nothing to do with Wagner's musical intentions as anybody who has played the Ring will know.
Unfortunately I have played one of these instruments and managed to stop a colleague actually buying one. When I played the Wagner Tuba regularly (F Tuba) one orchestra had a quartet of the (then) new Paxman compensating tubas. They were awful and seemed designed specifically to give high horn players the chance to grab all four tuba parts for themselves. Fortunately, the conductor didn't appreciate the thin sound either, so common sense prevailed. If there is no nobility of sound, Wagner and Bruckner have every right to come back and haunt us. Ralph On 24 Jun 2011, at 06:29, Hans Pizka wrote: > These hybride Wagner tubas (not "tuben") have not much to do with the > sound Richard Wagner wanted them to allow. The Bb-Tubas might come > near to what Wagner had in mind as the upper voice but within > limitations. > The bell of these tubas is much wider than the original Bb-tubas, and > their sound is rather hollow, while the sound of the F-side of these > hybrid > tubas is not as warm and dark colored than the single F-Tubas, which > allow a most solemn expression. > > Why are these hybrid (compensating) tubas built at all ? Just to > please the > notorious Bb-players who seem to have difficulties remembering the F- > fingerings. > > Well, I admit, if you are freelancing, it could be practical to use > one of > these instruments to be ready for all kind of tuba parts, high or > low, Bb or F. > But it would remain a non satisfying compromise. > > Wouldn´t it be better to arrange the compromise in the brain, > perhaps ???? > > I have not tried one of these described instruments from China, but > noticed > the trend to the Bb when teaching & traveling there. It is a mere > negligence > to arrange the change valve in a way, making a special action > necessary > to reverse the initial setting. > > We have to deal with a certain way of thinking our instruments, as > described by > our colleague Ricardo Matosinhos, who described the way the double > horns are set > in many countries of the world: in Bb-F. > > I have explained, why this way is quite impractical: just two > examples: > Strauss op.11 beginning of the solo with the f1-f2 jump. If you > start with the F-side > 1 & switch into Bb-horn, leaving the 1 stay, it is much faster > action than releasing > the thumb valve. During the famous beginning of "Rheingold" you have > no chance > to escape such impractical action when the horn is set in Bb-F. But > if you have the > horn set in F-Bb, as it should be, you can switch back & forth using > the better harmonics > and such easier upward jumps. Try it & understand. > > Best regards to all participants at the SFO Symposium. > > Hans Pizka > > PS: Could not attend, as I had a long planned Far East travel & > returned just last night. > Am 22.06.2011 um 16:55 schrieb J. Ewalt: > >> I'm not at the IHS, but I did pick up one of the Chinese tuben on >> eBay a >> couple of years ago - engraved Jinbao. Mine arrived sitting in Bb as >> well. It's not quite "field adjustable", but it just took a small >> piece >> of scrap brass and a few minutes to reverse the trigger. >> >> Jake >> >> On 6/22/2011 9:23 AM, Leonard & Peggy Brown wrote: >>> This is mostly aimed at anyone at the IHS convention right now. I >>> have >>> Emailed several friends about this but have not heard from them. >>> Could >>> someone check out the compensating Wagner Tubas from China and let >>> me know >>> if the trigger is set up in F/Bb or Bb/F? They sent me one in Bb/ >>> F and I >>> would like to know if that is the standard. >>> >>> Regards, >>> Leonard >>> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> post: [email protected] >> unsubscribe or set options at >> https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/hpizka%40me.com > > _______________________________________________ > post: [email protected] > unsubscribe or set options at > https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/ralph%40brasshausmusic.com Ralph R. Hall [email protected] Ralph R. Hall http://www.brasshausmusic.com _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
