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This afternoon I just found out that the Chicago Symphony would like to rent a C French tenor tuba for an upcoming demonstration concert in the Orchestra's "Beyond the Score" series featuring the Ravel orchestration of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition." The instrument should be in a reasonably playable condition and would be played by Michael Mulcahy. If anybody has such an instrument or knows of someone who does, please have them contact me (Gene Pokorny) at porkynbeth@comcast.net" target="_blank" target="_blank or Gerard McBurney (the Creative Designer of the "Beyond the Score" series) at McBurneyG@cso.org" target="_blank" target="_blank . Unfortunately, urgency is now rather critical as the instrument is needed for Sept. 20. Thanks for any help or assistance you may be willing to offer. Sincerely, Gene Pokorny (aka Northern)

Someone in the Seattle area should have one of these. A French C tuba showed up at TubaChristmas this last year. I don't know who it was but maybe some other TubeNet reader who was there does.

A vendor at the Army Band Tuba-Euph Conference had one on display one year. It was probably 1998-2000 or so. I do not believe it was on display for sale, but rather just to display it. They were very selective of who they would allow to touch/play it.


Anyone remember that? Remember the vendor? It was towards the back of the room--towards the stage but not right next to it. It was prominently displayed.

There was a working one


HERE


http://www.usd.edu/smm/collect.html#brass


But it was on loan and it was YEARS ago....

Tuba Exchange has a few in their museum; at least one is in playing condition.

I am pretty sure that Jim Gourlay has 1 or 2 of these that are in excellent condition.

Gary Ofenloch has one.

There used to be one for sale @ Wichita Music.

But get real. A decent F tuba will do it all with much less "personality" getting in the way.

iiipopes wrote:There used to be one for sale @ Wichita Music.

But get real. A decent F tuba will do it all with much less "personality" getting in the way.

I am assuming (here I go again), that the French C tuba is wanted for the presentation part of the concert (perhaps a pre-concert presentation), and would be played during that as well. I would also hope that the actual concert is played on a modern horn.


There is a reason these things became obsolete.... But, it's nice to see a piece of history, and I would love to hear one played. I've only seen them displayed, never played.

Dean wrote: There is a reason these things became obsolete....

And what might that be? (Here's a hint.)

iiipopes wrote:There used to be one for sale @ Wichita Music.

But get real. A decent F tuba will do it all with much less "personality" getting in the way.

Please re-read the original post and note the phrase "demonstration concert".

Also, never underestimate a possibly "sub-par" instrument in the hands of a true professional. They still, most likely, would be able to blow us out of the water.

The CSO will be in Switzerland the week before their "beyond the score" and I know where I can get one here in Switzerland. It wouldn't be a problem if the CSO borrowed it for awhile. All they would have to do is take it with them back to the States.

Tim Sullivan

I emailed Gene with these possibilities. Since he posted that emails would be appreciated, I guesses he doesn't plan to be back on here soon to read replies.

This demonstration concert is part of the CSO's "Beyond the Score" series. These events take place on Sunday afternoons with a lecture/film clips, slides/excerpts from the composition, followed by a brief intermission and then the actual piece played in it's entirety.

Last year, for The Planets, the orchestra brought in the English tenor tuba actually played for the premier of the work.

http://beyondthescore.org/main.taf?p=0,6,4" target="_blank" target="_blank

iiipopes wrote:There used to be one for sale @ Wichita Music.

But get real. A decent F tuba will do it all with much less "personality" getting in the way.

Telling Gene Pokorny to "get real" and then offering up advice for a better instrument choice. Utterly speechless on this one. I can't laugh though, because my mouth is hanging wide open in shock.

-james (Who only occasionally visits this site for the comical advice so freely offered. Case in point.)

james wrote:

iiipopes wrote:There used to be one for sale @ Wichita Music.

But get real. A decent F tuba will do it all with much less "personality" getting in the way.

Telling Gene Pokorny to "get real" and then offering up advice for a better instrument choice. Utterly speechless on this one. I can't laugh though, because my mouth is hanging wide open in shock.

-james (Who only occasionally visits this site for the comical advice so freely offered. Case in point.)

Thinking that myself.

iiipopes wrote:There used to be one for sale @ Wichita Music.

But get real. A decent F tuba will do it all with much less "personality" getting in the way.

I wonder whatever brought on that admonition.

An original instrument performance would be a rare opportunity for low brass players and audiences, to which I would look forward.

Hi Troops,
Alot has happened in the last 50 hours or so since the C French tuba possibility opened up for the CSO's "Beyond the Score" series. Gerard McBurney, the creative designer for the series, was insisting that it be played on a "regular" tuba. This was until he ran into one of librarians, Carole Keller, who informed him that the CSO in the immediate past has (mostly) had a tenor tuba play the Bydlo. He soon ran into Michael Mulcahy (who was packing for the upcoming Europe tour) and got the lowdown as to what a C French tenor tuba was and that a modern day euphonium is the closest thing to it. In the interest of being historically accurate, he wanted an effort made to locate one of these C French tenor tubas. That is when he and I talked.
That is when my call went out to tubenet.
I have received tons of great information and some great sources as to where to find these instruments. At this point, there is still no decision on the part of the orchestra's artistic management as to what they want to do and what they are willing to do in order to be have the same high artistic integrity as they had last spring when the original tenor tuba (which was performed at the premiere of
Holst's "The Planets") was used in performance in Chicago. I imagine alot of this upcoming "Pictures" will be sorted out in the next couple of days, even when we are already off on this European tour.
First, I want to thank all of you for your help in identifying sources where one of these instruments could be found. I have now at least ten sources from South London to South Dakota where an instrument can be found.
Much of the information and the conversation is stimulating for all of us. At the international conference in Cincinnati in June, the mission statement was "Preserving the past, inspiring the future." Beyond "preserving the past", we have to [u][u]care[/u][/u] about that past and realize our history and our legacy. Hearing the "Dies Irae" from "Symphonie Fantastique" played on real ophicleides will give us a better idea of what the composer had in mind. Hearing real saxhorns in the Ewald "Quintet" will give us a better idea of what our sound was intended to be (and how the cross-relations work so well with the other instruments). Hearing what Ravel's intended sound was for "Bydlo" (and the rest of "Pictures") gives us a chance to connect with our history, our legacy and our roots. Personally, listening to that original rendition will never take away from great performances I have heard of the piece played with the Chicago Symphony by Rex Martin on F tuba, Jacobs on the CC tuba (the Kubelik recording) or Jay Friedman and/or Michael Mulcahy on the euphonium. It is just good to hear what Ravel was thinking about in this masterful orchestration project of his.
So, the saga continues until some decisions are made "upstairs" regarding these upcoming performances later in September and the "Beyond the Score" performance on Sept. 20. For any of you who do have the interest, do check out previous "Beyond the Score" sources on the Chicago Symphony website: http://www.cso.org" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank . It is a fascinating series that is very informative for all (even those on-stage who don't want to admit it).
Again, thanks for all who have read and helped out with this project thus far.
Cheers, Gene Pokorny (aka "Northern")
FYI: "Northern" is the designated nickname for a steam locomotive with a 4-8-4 wheel arrangement. That is the locomotive (the Union Pacific #844) that is pictured on the front of my CD, "Tuba Tracks"

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tuben wrote:I'd be willing to bet there are quite a few railfans on here.... Myself included...

Me as well

Have traveled a lot of the world photographing the last steam locomotives in regular use