Why I should probably use a bass tuba for quintet.

[Z-Tuba Dude]

Is that arrangement one that is really worth getting?

[hbcrandy]

I have been playing Rosenthal's "Little Brown Jug" for years on my CC tuba. However, rather than trying to be a "hero" (I can show you a graveyard full of dead heroes.) I start the solo (beginning 9 measures before letter "E") down one octave and work up to the "Bb" above the top line of the staff. The high "Eb" preceding the "Bb" to which I referred is replaced by a "Ab" on the top line of the staff to complete the scalewise ascent to the "Bb" on the third beat of the second measure of the solo. The rest of the solo is quite easily workable on CC tuba.

There are those that like the bass tuba in the brass quintet for its lighter sound and blend with the rest of the instruments. I personally like the sound of a CC tuba to put a good bottom on the ensemble. But, I have heard many great quintet players who do a wonderful job on the F or Eb tubas.

[Steve Marcus]

...it's a written out ad lib solo so I can just pretend that what ever comes out is what really I wanted.

Excellent point. Since you are aware of that, you can (at your discretion) take (most of) the first 3 bars down an octave and jump back up on the last note in bar 42...I won't tell anybody.

Is there an actual commercial recording of the arrangement with the tubist playing the ink precisely? Hmmm...

[TexTuba]

That looks FUN!!

[bearphonium]

Hmmm. Think twice, post 13 times? Coincidence??

[pwhitaker]

Evidently Elephant hiccoughs are more severe and pervasive than those of humans.

[sloan]

We did this in my Army band quintet all the time. I played BBb only in those days. It took some work, to be certain, but I always thought that the section in B major right after it was more of a challenge because of the intonation issues at that volume. I like all of it save for the little spots at the end where the trumpet part is written so that the player sounds like he is lost. Rosenthal was a hornist in the LA Phil (or at least an active LA player) who played - maybe - with Bobo. So that part was possibly written with him in mind.

Rosenthal did several other works, "Three Renaissance Madrigals" comes to mind as a good one, and his setting of the Brahms "Es ist ein Ros entsprungen" being less good, by a decent amount…

What is this, Pomp and Circumstance?