hbcrandy wrote:... I am glad to hear that he is still with us and gracing us with his musical talent...
Tuesday I telephoned Mr. Roberts, prompted by Randy's thread, and learned that he indeed plays tuba in the Rockport Legion Post band (Sunday evening concerts all summer) and he sings professionally, in church, as soloist in a church with no choir, just Mr. Roberts. Mr. Roberts turns 87 at the end of June, but on the telephone his voice sounds like the voice of a singer in his prime. His degree (Cleveland institute) was in voice, and his late wife was also a vocalist; she studied at Oberlin. They both grew up in Gloucester, he an eleventh generation Cape Ann resident.
Mr. Roberts played in the Pittsburgh Symphony from about 1947 until 1950, the Cleveland Orchestra until 1967, and the San Francisco Symphony until 1969. He played in Chautauqua for many summers, perhaps until 1982. I'll confirm dates and edit this paragraph later.
Mr. Roberts, who continued teaching until 1996, mentioned a 1988 article for ITEA, "A Singer Looks at Brass Playing." He believes brass players, among instrumentalists, come closest to the singer's art.
Wednesday I visited Mr. Roberts at his home, mainly to talk about his interest in revising his 1972 Robert King Music edition, with new tempi, additional practice guidance, and some key changes. I left him my own Bordogni
transcriptions and play-along discs and we compared notes, literally, for a couple of hours. Chester Roberts'
43 Bel Canto Studies remains a best seller for Alphonse Leduc, both in the U.S. and in Europe.
In another project Mr. Roberts has transcribed and transposed some of the Bach cello suites and adapted them for tuba with guidance for articulation, breaths, tempo variation, and suggestions which notes to leave out, replacing them with a breath! A horn transcription by W. Hoss (Southern Music) in his possession may have provided some encouragement.
During our visit, which included lunch at the nearby Essex Seafood Restaurant, we exchanged stories. Here in the Boston area most everyone has a story about John Coffey, who grew up here, went to Curtis, played for Toscanini in the NBC Symphony and for Koussevitsky in the Boston Symphony (1941-1952). I'd taken a year of lessons with Mr. Coffey at age fifteen. When Chester Roberts came back from the South Pacific, after serving in the Air Force in aircraft maintenance, in 1945, he took some courses at Boston University and went to Mr. Coffey's studio on Huntington Avenue for a lesson. After waiting more than an hour beyond the scheduled time (He had better things to do with his time.) Mr. Roberts left, never to take a lesson with Mr. Coffey.
F. Chester Roberts (The F is for Francis) continues to practice the tuba an hour a day, choosing among his 19th century Cerveny, an early York, an Alexander F, or some euphoniums including one his father played. He declined to play duets with me saying his only public playing is in the back row of the Rockport Legion Band. I will be sure to ask again, suggesting we play the Bordogni contrapuntal duets written by Richard Bowles.
Though they haven't met, Mr. Roberts returns Randy Harrison's greetings.