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Have someone else play it on a euphonium. Don't try to be brave and do it on a contrabass tuba--it wasn't written for one anyway.

richland tuba 01 wrote:I have a BBb Miraphone.

Good man. Pass the Bydlo solo to a bone player, tell them to bring a euph. If someone insists you play it, you insist they buy you a new Miraphone Firebird F to go with your Bb.

Yes. I say go for it! How many other chances will you have to play this piece? Of course if the idea of playing it on a BBb tuba is a barrier, why not find/borrow/rent a euphonium? That can be fun. And never trust a trombone player to do a tuba player's job! If they suck it up, then it's YOUR fault! At least that has always been my reasoning. Good luck.

A reader and infrequent poster of this forum told the story of a conductor who insisted that he play Bydlo on his BIG tuba.

No, this was not for the CSO...

...although said tubaist has subbed for the CSO on other occasions.

knuxie wrote:Trombone? Surely you jest! Why not tenor sax then?

I think the implication was that a trombone player would use an Euphonium! (besides, tenor saxes are MUCH more euphonious than trombones... )

bigwillystyle wrote:How many other chances will you have to play this piece? Of course if the idea of playing it on a BBb tuba is a barrier, why not find/borrow/rent a euphonium?

Point taken. Don't buy a euph, rent or borrow. That's good experience, working the solo up yourself on euph. I'm working up some bass bone stuff now, and even though it's not my main axe, I'm gonna do my best. Of course, I have sufficient time to make a legitimate effort. Also, it's nowhere near as nasty as the Bydlo solo. Not even close.

bigwillystyle wrote:And never trust a trombone player to do a tuba player's job! If they suck it up, then it's YOUR fault!

Never trust a tuba player to do the French C euphonium player's job. If someone has to suck, make the bone player suck. That's their lot in life. If the bone player complains, tell him/her to take it to the French C euphonium player.

richland tuba 01 wrote:well, we already gave it to the 1 trombone player(yes, 1) and he couldn't play it. so now we have our first chair string bass playing it. you just can't hear him. all the piece sounds like now is basses going bu-du-bu-du. meh. I'll learn it someday on an f tuba.

and yeah, baba yaga is most likely the most fun piece I've ever played. ever. blatting on purpose and a smooth solo in the middle? my prayers have been answered.

Blatting on purpose? BLATTING!?

Young one, there is a difference between intensity and blatting. Intense, yes. Big, yes. Focused, yes. Powerful, yes. Blat, never. Even the Baba Yaga movement is supposed to be musical.

Regarding the Bydlo, play it if you can, on whatever instrument you can. I've heard world-class symphony pros struggle with it on F tubas. If it came to me, and I could not find the French C Euphonium player to whom Tom refers, I'd play it on a plain euphonium and still hope I didn't mess up the G#.

There are many arguments to and fro about the required sound, and whether the F tuba has it, etc, etc. In the end, though, if you splatter the G# over half an octave, nobody's gonna remember if you got the ideal sound.

Rick "who thinks a fracked note always sounds bad" Denney

richland tuba 01 wrote:well, we already gave it to the 1 trombone player(yes, 1) and he couldn't play it. so now we have our first chair string bass playing it. you just can't hear him. all the piece sounds like now is basses going bu-du-bu-du. meh. I'll learn it someday on an f tuba..

See if one of the horns wants to play it. But playing on a BBb tuba and "hoping" that you'll have a good day and nail the G# is not exactly for the good of the group is it?

FWIW; I did it one series with my main horn to prove to myself I could do it (major gnashing of teeth up to the concerts), then a few years later I used the Conn double bell currently in my signature. (No double bell tricks, but I had to use it to write it off... ). That series was MUCH more enjoyable!

Richland,

If you do decide to do it, either on euph or tuba, make sure you do some range expansion exercises all the way up to the Bb above the target G#. That way when you get there you aren't playing at the very top of your range. Give yourself some slack up there.

Get a friend that is a really good HS euphonium player to come in and play that solo. It would be a rare opportunity for a euph player to play in an orchestra. I am not a huge fan of young players doubling, and Bydlo is rather extreme for HS tuba players. There is no shame in not playing it. I am surprised that the trombone player couldn't do it (on trombone). Although it would not sound right (to me) to hear it on trombone, a good trombone player should be able to play it.

While it may seem OK to cut your teeth in this situation, and it may very well be OK, I am not so sure the conductor really would want you hear you or anyone else really struggle to make this sound good. Youth orchestra or not, the musical product must meet the standards of the orchestra. Bring in a real euphonium play if you can not play it. There should be no problem finding an all region or area euph player that could kill this.

FWIW, much debate is put into what was intended and what you should play Bydlo on these days. facts are, its in the tuba part, and does not specify what instrument to play it on, and conductors look to the tuba chair. The movement is not difficult, so there is rarely an rehearsing done so it ends up being a run through and thats about it. Pressure is all on the player. Only when it is hacked up will a conductor realize there is a problem.

tubajmc wrote:I feel it is a solo that should be played by the Tuba. You have to remember, this is supposed to be an Ox pulling a massive cart behind him. In my opinion even a Euph. is a little thin and small sounding when trying to portray such a massive character.

There are some people who feel that the melody that the french tuba plays, is actually the singing voice of the ox cart driver, while the lumbering of the cart is represented by the relentless lower strings.

richland tuba 01 wrote:I would love to do that. but sadly, it's been decided. bass player gets it, FTL!

eh, maybe I can still change the maestra's mind if I can work it up right.

The Bydlo solo is in your part, you should be the one deciding if you will play it. If you choose not to, it should be your choice who should play it (it's your *** on the line, though).

I think the idea of a bass player playing it is stupid... let me guess, the conductor is a string player. First off, it's not really in a good range of the bass. When the bass player sees the solo, he/she will need to read it UP AN OCTAVE so it may be in the proper pitch. String bass sounds real thin and "tin-ny" up there.

I'd agree with what someone else suggested, give it to a french horn player. They have to play it anyways later on, I believe, so they can do it. Just re-write the solo in F treble clef and there ya go! That is, though, if you are unable to get one of the trombone players to play it on euph, or if you can't acquire a euph to play it yourself, or find a real euph player to come in and play it.

MiraGuy wrote: I was always under the impression that Bydlo was the ox itself, If you've ever been around cattle and hear their "Mooing" on a daily basis sometimes you can hear the most mournful sounding thing....

Which is exactly what "Bydło" means in Polish--cattle.

Chuck(G) wrote:Which is exactly what "Bydło" means in Polish--cattle.

Which makes the baton a "cattle prod"