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What might a "Tuba en si bemol" be? There is an acute accent mark over the "e" in "bemol."

Chris Horsch wrote:What might a "Tuba en si bemol" be? There is an acute accent mark over the "e" in "bemol."

My best guess would be "Tuba in B flat".

Indeed. The French use the sol - fa system of describing their instruments rather than letters.

It's Tuba in B flat.
Beware!!
Here and in France the word tuba is most often used to indicate a tenor tuba (euphonium, baritone), and what we call tuba is refered to as tuba basse (or bombardon in old scores)

Furthermore there is a tendency to write transposed parts....

Be sure to check carefully what instrument they mean exactly....

Tuba en si bemol is half the size of a BBb tuba. It's either a baritone horn or euphonium. It'a an old French tuba pitched in B-flat. The music is transposed along B-flat trumpet guidelines although it is written in bass clef (possibly tenor clef, but doubtful).

I am quite sure of this.

The following site shows the "tuba Sib" as a Bb basstuba (eg Conn 22j). Quite remarkable is the frequent use (not so much on this site) of "soubassophone", known to us as sousaphone. It has a "pavillon" of some 26 pousses (thumbs/inches). At the other end of the "souba" one finds the embouchure, which is not part of the player but just the mouthpiece. The list also shows a few "basses" that seem to be in the euphonium range.
Maybe the terminology on this site is slightly influenced by the taste of the owner, who is obviously a lover of US brass.

LoyalTubist wrote:Tuba en si bemol is half the size of a BBb tuba. It's either a baritone horn or euphonium. It'a an old French tuba pitched in B-flat. The music is transposed along B-flat trumpet guidelines although it is written in bass clef (possibly tenor clef, but doubtful).

I am quite sure of this.

Would you be referring to the designation often seen in French music (especially like that published by Alphonse LeDuc) of the Saxhorn basse Si b?

It depends.

http://www.wassermansons.fr/achat/produ ... .php?id=12

Like any other language French (and for that matter Spanish, which uses a similar terminology) changes over time. "Tuba en si bémol" today usually refers to the familiar BBb tuba. However-

"Tuba basse en si bémol" refers to the tenor variety
"Tuba contrebasse en si bémol" refers to the big boy.

Sometimes seen, but not too common:

"Petit tuba en si bémol" - is a euphonium
"Gros tuba en si bémol" - is a BBb tuba

If the range isn't specified and is a modern work, I'd go with the BBb meaning, particularly after I'd seen the part. e.g.,

http://pageperso.aol.fr/freemuzix/avord/avord.htm

In Spanish, as far as I know "tuba en si bemol" always refers to the BBb beast.

bloke wrote:JB,

It's time you had an avatar:

<img src="http://i1.tinypic.com/mvje3a.jpg">

...and its time I had a drink!


Thanks. I'll give it a try. (Although I do have a preference for Jameson Irish Whiskey.)

[quote="Dutch"]The following site shows the "tuba Sib" as a Bb basstuba (eg Conn 22j). Quite remarkable is the frequent use (not so much on this site) of "soubassophone", known to us as sousaphone. It has a "pavillon" of some 26 pousses (thumbs/inches). At the other end of the "souba" one finds the embouchure, which is not part of the player but just the mouthpiece. The list also shows a few "basses" that seem to be in the euphonium range.
Maybe the terminology on this site is slightly influenced by the taste of the owner, who is obviously a lover of US brass.[/quote]

here is the missing link:
http://www.coste-musique.fr/main.php3?page=cuivres.php3

LoyalTubist wrote:Tuba en si bemol is half the size of a BBb tuba. It's either a baritone horn or euphonium. It'a an old French tuba pitched in B-flat. The music is transposed along B-flat trumpet guidelines although it is written in bass clef (possibly tenor clef, but doubtful).

I am quite sure of this.

My information is current as of May 1966.

LoyalTubist wrote:My information is current as of May 1966.

Unfortunately, that was a decade short of a half-century ago. I'd venture that very few modern French composers are even aware of the little French teakettle tuba--although my turn-of-the 20th-century literature seems to refer to the 5- and 6-vave baby tuba in C as "tuba en ut" and the Bb saxhorn as "Basse in si bémol".

But modern usage seems to indicate that in French "tuba" means about what it means in most other languages.

Every musician here* still uses the word tuba to indicate the Bb (not Eb or BBb) variety.

It's not France, but it's only a couple of miles to the border


*(Apart from the very few symphonic tubists with international experience)

valtuba wrote:If you meet a french and you say "I play euphonium" the guy would say "ha, the little tuba!"........

Well, it's much better than, "what?"