"Basses" to refer to tubas in old English wind band scores
Posted: Mon May 09, 2022 11:22 pm
I've seen many old English wind band scores (I'm thinking of the Holst Suites, V. Williams Folk Song Suite, etc.) that refer to the tubas as "basses." Now, I know that in a British-style brass band, "basses" typically refers to a section of 2 B-flat tubas and 2 E-flat tubas (or something around that), and I always assumed that older wind band scores were originally orchestrated for a similar section. Does anyone have a source to confirm or deny my assumption? I've been looking for, for example, old concert programs which listed E-flat and B-flat bass players separately, or maybe just pictures of wind bands contemporary with Holst and Vaughn Williams in England. Please let me know that I've not the first person to think about this!