I was party to the design of Yamaha's first F tuba in 1980, as I was working at Schilke's, and all the initial brass designs were being done there. The first attempt was to reduce their Eb British Brass Band- style Tuba. It had a strong low register, but serious intonation problems - as was expected. The next step was to use the "baby BBb" bell as an alternative. Things got better & were heading in the right direction. At the time Maestro Bobo was experimenting, too. He had recently put a Besson bell on his Mirafone 180 F, and rumor had it he liked it. When I left Chicago to play in the Madison Symphony, I suggested to Schilke to collaborate with Bobo. In characteristic fashion, Schilke told me he already had. The rest is history.
The Yamaha F tuba(s) are "Roger's Babies". He is responsible for anything good about them.
I was enroute to buy one in Grand Rapids about 10 years ago, when Bob Rusk pointed me towards an antigue shop in La Port Ind. This dealer had 2 brand new Gronitz PT125s, one in silver and one in laquered brass. Bob & I played them back and forth for about an hour.
When we're in this situation Bob usually plays "Devil's Advocate" He liked the laquered, I wanted the silver. The silver looked and played like it was made for me, an F version of Arnold's York. (excepting the leadpipe height). The dealer wanted CASH, so I turned around back to Milwaukee, and came back the next day and laid XX$$ in hundred dollar bills on a table in front of him. He tried to "shake me down" for the tax, beyond the agreed price. I turned to walk out the door (with the scooped up cash) He watched me walk out the door, and then chased me out into the street and apologized. The PT125 had come to America. WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DESIGN? That's beween "Onkel" Dieter (Gronitz's owner, Dieter Kleine-Horst) and me.
I was fortunate enough to share my find with Arnold when he gave his last masterclass in Evanston. I took the Gronitz up on the stage after a session, hoping he'de play it some and give me his approval.
He took the horn, and played the "A" at the top of the staff with four different fingerings, seeing if they'de "match" in pitch. He'de always done this with every horn I brought into the studio, before launching into "O Solo Mio, Arban's "Carnival", or some lightening fast demonstration of arpegiatta.
This time was different. "Here, YOU play. Entertain us, tell us a STORY". There were several people still in their seats, and I goofed around a bit and then played the Rececetive from the Berlioz Romeo & Juliet that was Arnold's "signature piece" on F tuba. "Very nice. Play me some more." (He had a way of speaking that always implied great vocal training) I waited for some suggestion (For once he didn't have any....). Then I began to play "my" "signature piece" the basso "soli" section from the Prelude to Act 1 of Wagner's "Die Meistersinger von Nuremberg".
I have a "special connection" with this solo. It was the first orchestra excerpt I ever studied, having dissected it in depth with Chester Schmitz at Tanglewood in 1971. It was Chester who sent me to Jacobs, and intense study, a near insane devotion to practice through High School and the guidance of Bob Tucci that made me a member of the Nuremberg Philharmonic and Opera before I reached the age of 19.
I was told after the audition that it was my renition of "the solo" that had sealed the audition, and in the three seasons I spent in Nuremberg I had all kinds of fun entertaining my collegues with the Prelude, first playing the part upside down, and eventually setting my part under my chair for longer and longer periods until I could get to the "apprentice scene" in the second act, where noone in their right mind would attempt to play without the "crutch" of the music. Franz Strauss, the father of Richard Strauss had at one point before the Munich premier in 1868 sent Wagner fuming from the pit of the Bavarian Court Opera by accusing him of writing "clarinet parts" for the horns in this scene. "I've put him to flight!" Strauss declared; part of a love/hate relationship between the two - Wagner loved Strauss' playing, but disliked him personally and Strauss disliked Wagner but allegedly secretly admired his music.
While in Nuremberg, I visted all the sites in the different scenes, and even lived for a time in "Die Wespennest" a medievel building on the Pegnitz rumored to have been used as refuge by "Walther von Stolzung", "Meistersingers" hero.
In my private studies in Nurembergs Conservatorium, I further delved and dissected this opera's text and orchestration, along with Strauss' Alpine Symphony (which was plopped on my desk with the directive: Everything you need to know about orchestration.)
Die Meistersinger is Wagner's sole comic opera, and hidden within it's text and double entendres lies the heart and soul of the German nation so often overlooked by those that cite the fanciful dramas of "The Ring" as being such. It is an opera that speaks of timeless human nature whether in Durer's, Wagner's or our own time; and might serve as a template for German humanity, if such a thing exists.
All this "Was Deutsch und Echt Ist" (What is genuinely German)was going through my head as I "told this story" and "Sang my Heart Out" for "Jake". Although Arnold & I kept in touch through the telephone, I also knew this might be the last time he'd hear me play. I finished with the final dramatic lead to the "G". Jake just beamed and rocked back in his chair. A voice rose out of the "audience". It was Bob Rusk - "THAT'S OK; NOBODY can play that trill....." It was countered by a voice from behind Rusk. "HE can." It was C.S.O. Oboist Ray Still. We all "broke up" laughing at and with Bob. Three great teachers and their validated student. It was the last time I saw Arnold, and I couldn't have ever wished for more. He could ALWAYS make things better. Even when things were great.
As for Schilke? Quite the character. ALL the stories you've heard are probably true. I've got hundreds. Schilke made it possible for more brass players to study in Chicago than all the "Chicagoland" college and university scholarships. If some poor sap couldn't get a job, he'de make sure they could stay in town even if they were an "arschloch". He was tough as nails too, and when I worked for the Chicago Police Dept. as a dog trainer/docent instructor, ALL the guys on the force knew who "Ren" was. His reputation as a marksman outstripped his reputation as a musician or buisnessman for "the boys in blue", and that's some pretty hefty outstripping. Did Schilke once try to shoot Scott Laskey? I once asked "the old man". "If I'de wanted to shoot him, I'de have got him between the eyes" he snapped back. "Why? are you looking for a demonstration?" Parents rarely consider killing their own children, and I always felt safe knowing "My Pa" was armed and dangerous enough to intimidate even the toughest of "Daley's Boys" Have you ever seen an 80+ year old man grab a 275lb Giant and attempt to/succeed at "Kick(ing) the S**t" out of him ? True story. Ask the "Canadian Brass". I'll let them decide if the world should know "Why?" or whether it should remain a "Family Secret". (see
www.sckilkeloyalists.com)