TubeNet

I'm a broken record!

Ronald Davis
Solo Pro
Contest Music for TUBA

produced by Summit Records.

-Julie

Harvey Phillips' performance of Air and Bourree appears on Golden Crest LP #RE 7006. Hopefully, this and many other of Mr. Phillips' recordings will be reissued on CD when negotiations with the Galehouse estate are consummated.

.

Listen to recordings of the Bouree movement of any Bach or Handel Suite (violin, cello, etc.) performed on the original instrument.

Before you ever listen to a tuba player play this piece, listen to a GREAT violinist do it. The Bouree is a truncated version of the same piece from the b minor sonata from Bach's 6 Sonata's and Partitas for Solo Violin. You will find that violinists will never perform this piece even remotely close to the "tempo d' tear ***" that most tuba players do it at. I personally believe that the piece, when performed WITHOUT the piano, opens up HUGE possibilities of interpretation. I am presently working out the entire movement for Solo Tuba in Bell's key of G Minor. A Bouree was never intended to be performed fast. The average tempo of the Violin recordings I have is a @ Half note=66. It puts a whole new spin on this piece. I am of the OPINION that this is perhaps the best tuba solo ever written, and one of those solos that everyone takes for granted. Much more than meets the eye. Good Luck.

I believe the piece is also on the Bill Bell and his Tuba album, but it's not easy to find a copy of that album.

I like this solo - it's a nice piece of music. When I've heard it performed, I've noticed two major problems.

1. Playing the Bouree too fast. It is supposed to be a sort of stately dance, more deliberate than fast. IMHO, about half note = 80 or 90 is about right for the movement. At that tempo, you can focus one more nuances and make some music.

2. Slowing down too much in the closing measures. It is appropriate for the style and period to slow down **very modestly** at the end of the piece, but DON'T overdo it. (For the record, I think Bill Bell and Harvey Phillips overdo it on their recordings.) Listen to other bourees performed by baroque orchestras, and you can get an idea of what would be stylisticly accurate for the period.

As a final comment, at the time in history when the piece was originally written by Bach, no self-respecting performer would have played it without incorporating their own embellishments (trills, grace notes, etc.). Just remember to be tactful in your insertion of embellishments - more is not always better.

Chuck Jackson wrote:A Bouree was never intended to be performed fast. The average tempo of the Violin recordings I have is a @ Half note=66. It puts a whole new spin on this piece.

I'm extremely happy to see this authoritatively written.

I think it sounds better played with greate precision at a slower tempo. But even more importantly (from my perspective), I can't play it cleanly at tempo d'tear-*** and at half-note=66 I have a shot.

Rick "who played this solo to a first division in high school--on a King plastic sousaphone" Denney