So one of the hornists at my school is approaching her senior recital this coming year and has asked me to play the piece Suite #1 for Horn, Tuba and Piano with her, the one by Alec Wilder.
I was wondering whether this piece is one that typically lies more for F tuba or if it is attemptable on CC. I can see the value of both instruments playing being in F but then again I don't know.
Any opinions on this piece, playing it, or any known recordings would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Last edited by smurphius on Fri Jul 22, 2005 10:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I'm not really sure, but I really haven't heard much about Harvey Phillips (the man for which the piece was written), playing a lot of F tuba. I'm sure he did though. You might want to check the old LP and the recording and see what he played. I think the perfect horn would be a small CC. I wouldn't play it on my Willson CC, but I would play it on a 186 or 2145. That's my input.
Harvey played everything on a small 4-piston Conn CC tuba.
But that does not mean that the rest of us could. Listen to the recording, and decide for yourself what would work best for you.
I used a C when I did it on my Junoir recital a few years back. I thought the character worked better to have the C with the horn. Ask your teacher.
Jim Langenberg
update - Oh yeah, I used my 186, it was before I got the 2000. I recall thinkin if the tuba were bigger balance would be an issue. The piece is very conversational between the horn and tuba so you could look at it like a 'male and female' voice. I felt the timbre of the C worked better.
Last edited by rascaljim on Sat Jul 23, 2005 10:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
rascaljim wrote:I used a C when I did it on my Junoir recital a few years back. I thought the character worked better to have the C with the horn. Ask your teacher.
Jim Langenberg
I did, and got more questions than answers. Hehehe.
I think it's more important that your tuba "matches" sound quality with the horn rather than which key your instrument is. An F tuba would seem the most obvious choice but not this is not necessarily correct.
I have played this suite using a Conn CC 3J and a large F. It worked better for me on the 3J. The small CC sound was more compact in the low register,particularly, and blended with the horn well.
Wilder was one of the first composers who treated the tuba as an equal member of the musical instrment family and this is a well written part. Regardless of what instrument you use, it's a great piece!
