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What is your favorite tuba part?

well, if we're talking in terms of "dropping the bomb" i would say that Pictures at an Exhibition would fit nicely into that category. yes, often overplayed, this piece demonstrates all aspects of tuba playing. (CC & F tuba, muted tuba, loud, soft, etc.) catacombs is certainly a bomb as is the great gate. oh, and lets not forget the hell of part in Bydlo. i recently saw Ms. Jantsch and the Philadelphia Orchestra play Pictures and the playing was AMAZING. such command and control of her instruments. and she did bydlo instead of a trombone player holding a eupho. it was very impressive.

I think the best tuba part is the bottom outer bow ferrule, on the side opposite the bell.

Something for we mere amateurs. I very recently starting playing with the Sapulpa Community Band (immediately soutwest of Tulsa), about two weeks before they did this performance on April 4. One of the pieces was "Fortress" by Frank Ticheli. I think the tuba part is a cut or two above typical stuff for community band. The first part of the piece is fairly typical. But starting around 1:55' into the piece, the tuba part plays an important role. I didn't realize this until I listened to the recording. If I had known what I know now, I would have made more of it. The recording was made with a Zoom H4 at the back of an ex-Masonic temple ballroom. Tubists were me on the 191 and a high school girl on a MW25.
http://t-recs.net/mpegs/SCB/04_04_2008/fortress.wma

Any well-written march.

A march, if done correctly, can have as much music as a complete three act opera.

Greg wrote:My Spirit Be Joyful

I am performing that tomorrow with my quintet, taking it about 150...kick ***

Mike Johnson wrote:Mahler 4!

tubashaman wrote:Oh man, thats not on my cherry classics CD

Man, you really need to find the tuba part to that. It is AWESOME!

well, there are a lot!

Anyone who got the chance to play Wagner's Ring will confirm that it is awesome to be part of this tetralogy.

Mahler's 2nd, 5th, 6th, 7th

Lady MacBeth of Mzensk from Shostakovitch is an unbelievable opera for any brass player, two and a half hours Bb Tuba at its finest!

For the best solo part in an orchestral piece I would choose "Jabba the hut" from John Williams' Star Wars, amazing tuba solo and the beginning of the second act of Wagner's Siegfried!

The tuba part for the band arrangement of Crown Imperial Coronation March by William Walton. The trumpets don't get notes that are that fast!

Mike Johnson wrote:Mahler 4!

I agree...Mahler 4...especially the part under the soprano soloist...outstanding stuff.

tubashaman wrote:Oh man, thats not on my cherry classics CD

I just realized this, too. Can anyone PM me a PDF file of Mahler 4?

BriceT wrote:

tubashaman wrote:Oh man, thats not on my cherry classics CD

I just realized this, too. Can anyone PM me a PDF file of Mahler 4?

PM sent

tuben wrote:You asked two questions;

Best part: Portsmouth Point Overture - William Walton (most fun you'll ever have in orchestra)

Favorite part: too hard to say.

RC

Amen to that. Just about anything written by Sir William will do that for you. Scapino and Facade are a hell of a good time as well.

My favorite parts are,aside from Mahler 4 of course...
Prokofiev: Any Symphony and Ivan the Terrible, October Cantata, Chout, Cinderella.
Shostakovich: Sym. 4, 7, and 11, The Execution of Stepan Razin.
Bruckner: Sym. 4,5,8,9
Tchaikovsky: Sym. 2,4,5,6, Francesca da Rimini
Rachmaninov: Sym.1
Wagner: Absolutely anything.
Richard Strauss: Absolutely anything.
Schmidt: Sym.2, The Book of the Seven Seals.
Mahler: Sym. 2,3,6

I keep forgetting about "Les Preludes". I heard it on "Performance Today" yesterday, and man, the memories. I'd give it my nod as "best" and "favorite" both.

LoyalTubist wrote:The tuba part for the band arrangement of Crown Imperial Coronation March by William Walton. The trumpets don't get notes that are that fast!

Yeah, I remember playing that in High School I got the part.. and just kinda went .. "BAH WHA?!!!" took some work, but got it down.

I've been digging Maslanka 4 recently.
(plug for the above: IC W.E. Friday, 8:15 Ford Hall on Ithaca College campus)

Anyone played Festival Variations by Claude T. Smith?

AFA orch parts...my fav to play is probably Tcaik 4.

I must say Sibelius´ Finlandia. Nothing technically difficult to play, but some nice sounding places, like the beginning with the trombones and basses. There´s also some loud stuff at the end of the piece. Usually this piece is played in the end of the concert - and often abroad...

Gee, two pages of discussion, and not a single mention of the Budweiser Beer jingle?
I must've wandered into the wrong forum. . . . highfalutin' musicianal types. . . go figger . . . *belch*

I would second a lot of those listed above and add:

Elgar 1 & 2 + Cockaigne and Falstaff
Vaughan Williams 1, 2 & 9 (the ones I have played!)
Suk Asrael Symphony
Shostokovich 12
Walton 1

For the absolute "Best Tuba Part", for me Mahler 6 (personally looking forward to playing it in September )

Probably the most fun I've had playing tuba in an orchestral setting was "Alexander Nevsky." My favorite quintet part is the Harbison "Christmas Vespers."