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Alex, hands down. This may be the most fun you will ever have in an orchestra. The part is great and the tunes are wonderful. I have fond memories of playing this. Enjoy.

Stupid me, I had the tuba part in my hand last night and didn't even look at it. My part is right in the meat of the horn, F to F. I suspect you are an octave below that. My thought would be try the Bell first and if it is not enough go to the Alex. Remember, it's a smallish string section. Chuck is right. Upon first reading, slogging through as the conductor put it, this is some of the most musical of all the music I have ever played. We'll have a great time with it. Looking forward to joining forces again.

I would too suggest your Alex. It lays well on a CC and is a big part well justifying a big tuba.

The Eb would not have the low register weight IMHO, while a BBb BAT would not be so good for the higher stuff.

I played it last year on my Neptune and it seemed just right.

Neptune wrote:and is a big part well justifying a big tuba.

And I'll bet you had more than 36 strings, which is probably all we will have. It's a small hall so we can fill it with a small string section but the brass has to be careful not tromp all over the poor string weenies. The Bell is a legit 4/4 CC. I would prefer to blend with the Alex but it will be more difficult to maintain a semblance of balance in the orchestra tutti sections. The last time Robert and I sat together in a section we had about 120 strings. We opened 'er up that night. We can do it on the VW but judiciously, the conductor will turn us loose every chance he gets. He likes brass. I can't wait. It's a very good orchestra, just a bit on the small side.

Big tuba. Big tuba. Big tuba. This work has some earth-mover chords in it, especially right at the beginning, but nothing that would be trouble on a big tuba. When I screw around with this one, I do it on the Holton. I've heard it live three times, once on an Alex, once on a Neptune, and once on a Nirschl. Even the quiet bits (particularly right at the end) sound very nice with a big-tuba depth even when played very quietly.

The Brits (Jonathon excepted) might use an EEb, but you aren't British, and for RVW this was a big-concept work. And the brass doesn't play much with the strings, so stop worrying.

Rick "and don't forget the second A in Vaughan" Denney

Rick Denney wrote:The Brits (Jonathon excepted) might use an EEb

Quite true Rick, but once you know what it can sound like with big tuba, then an EEb sounds way underpowered as I think we both agreed for the performance of the 9th we both heard last year.

My previous performance of the London Symphony was with if I recall correct an orchestra only about 65 strong, so not large and no problems with Neptune. The big tuba's use was specifically for tone and depth in the lower register - not just to produce high volumes.

It is interesting that it was performing a RVW symphony about 5 years ago on Besson EEb which originally made me decide to get a big CC - I could just not produce what the conductor wanted!

Ok, Ok....... If I can speak for Wade, we give up. It's not worth the ink and paper we are wasting, plus the damage to the enviroment, global warming and all.

Robert, bring one next week and the other the week after and you decide which one you want to play. We've got till the end of the month. Tough stairs down to the basement next week, however the Alex may be lighter than the MW.

The last time I played this symphony, I played a 5/4 Rudy Meinl. It worked well.

tbn.al wrote:And I'll bet you had more than 36 strings, which is probably all we will have.

Only 9 players in the string section for a symphony?

Update - Tuben used his Alex, to great effect I might add. We played the piece better than we had any right to considering the quality of the rehearsals and the size of the string section(10 vln, 5 vla, 4 cel, 2 db). All in all it was a rather nice evening.....a glass of Harp with low brass friends between the rehearsal and the downbeat and almost a religious experience during the 2nd mvmt. This is some really glorious music. I feel quite privilaged to have been able to perform it.