In defense of the Ophicleide

[J.c. Sherman]

This is a phenomenal performance. I know the folks who hate the instrument won't be persuaded by anything short of waterboarding, but for many of us, this is just a breathtaking instrumental performance... that happens to be on the ophicleide

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gn430KKg ... ata_player

[oldbandnerd]

I think this is just terrific. The first and only other recording I have ever heard of this piece being played is by Tormod Flaten on euphonium from his cd "From the Deep" . He did just as wonderful job his recording as this perfromer did on the ophicleide. I always thought of the ophicleide as a difficult instrument to play well and in tune . I guess this goes to prove what you can do when you practice!

[bloke]

I've heard several extraordinary performances with these instruments on youtube, and yes, there are a few really great players of this instrument. As a practical matter, I still cannot really embrace it as a 21st Century "orchestral" instrument (the great shortage of truly "great players" aside - considering simple decibel production issues) any more than I can really embrace an "unamplified upright bass" as a 21st Century jazz combo instrument in a typical setting.

[tclements]

This playing is magnificent. Thank you for sharing this clip .... Is there video of this performer?

[DP]

...

[Highpitch]

Beautiful singing from that giant keyed bugle.

A little 'slippery' in places, gives it a pleasing character.

I wonder what it would sound like to adapt a euph MP to a bass sax.....

Dennis

[tbn.al]

This guy could probably make a nose flute sound good. You only have to compare his serpent video to that of Doug Yeo to realize what a truly gifted performer he is. I think I like the serpent best btw. I also have long said I was born 500 years too late for my musical taste.

[J.c. Sherman]

You 'can' put a bone mouthpiece into a bari sax, and approximate and ophicleide's tone. There are three problems with the usefulness of this, though.

1) the scales is screwed up because of the new mouthpiece and it's not tunable.
2) the range will be 1 or two semitones away from the low B required of a standard C ophicleide.
3) the majority of notes for the second octave and above would be relegated to your two pinkies! Not very satisfactory for dexterity.

However, it's a fun exercise, and if you're looking to know what playing an ophicleide feels like, this is a way to have your first "ahah!" moment. Be sure to use a small mouthpiece and be extra careful not to stretch out the receiver of your friend's/school's/personal bari sax

J.c.S.

[Chuck Jackson]

A couple of years ago, a friend gave me a disc to listen to of Malcom McNabb's that included a performance by him of the Tschaikovsky Violin Concerto on Trumpet. Every note was covered, every nuance regarded, the trumpet playing was magnificent. But it was still a trumpet playing Tschaikovsky. While I can be in awe of the performance and the effort, would I turn to it as a staple of the repertoire? No. It was a novelty, a feat to be oohed and aahed over by the cogniscenti and no one else.

The Weber was expertly played, with the performer compensating for most of the instruments deficiencies. Would I rather hear a bassoon play it? Absolutely. Does the choice of instrument legitimize the piece over another playing the same work? That is a personal choice and nothing more. While I admire the virtuosity displayed, to me it was novelty, a thing to listen to see what this obsolete instrument actually was capable of. In its day I'm sure it was the benchmark of accepted sound. That day has passed.

Chuck

[J.c. Sherman]

As noted, I knew some wouldn't be impressed. But I wonder if the last poster refrains 100% from playing transcriptions, and if not, how he compensates for the inherant deficiencies of the tuba

Have you heard the Bassoon version? I actually like this better in some ways (not in others), especially with the balance with a modern piano. Bassoons don't fight piano well IMHO.

There's actually some research into one of the bassoon standards of the day which indicate it may have been for ophicleide, but not published as such. I don't think this is one of those works due to the many low Bbs, but transcriptions and "cross platform" performance was very common in Weber's day as well.

The day of the ophicleide has not passed for some of us... and we're a growing number

But I know this is ****ing in the wind

J.c.S.

[Chuck Jackson]

There's actually some research into one of the bassoon standards of the day which indicate it may have been for ophicleide, but not published as such. I don't think this is one of those works due to the many low Bbs, but transcriptions and "cross platform" performance was very common in Weber's day as well.

If I'm not mistaken, the original was for viola in the keys of C minor/C Major which were kept for the bassoon edition, thus negating anything lower than a C, that note being the lowest open string on the Viola. Are you sure the performer is not doing a newer transcription, possibly the one for Euphonium? As for it being passed around at the time, could have been, but without empirical evidence, it sounds like recidivist history to justify it being done today. When "Might Haves" become "Certainties", well, I don't have to lecture on 20th Century World History to see the inherent problems in that justification.

I love the bassoon version, one of my favorite works for the instrument. As for the viola, well, it's the viola.

I admire advocacy and avidness on your part, but let's face it, the Ophicleide is an antique, and like antique steam engines or cars, it is relegated to those few who have an abiding interest in the curious, the odd, and the unique.

Chuck

[iiipopes]

Magnificient! All we usually hear about are the deficiencies and defects of such instruments, and how the tuba became the successor, etc. It is wonderful to hear such musicality out of "archaic" "deficient" "limited" instruments, in spite of the famous Berlioz quote. Again, it's not the instrument, it's the performer who makes it great.