Kilton Vinal Smith, 1950's
Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2020 9:12 pm
Here is a picture of Kilton Vinal Smith of the Boston Symphony playing his Kruspe F tuba on stage at Symphony Hall. There is a wonderful story that goes along with this picture. Mr. Smith was in rehearsal playing a piece that required mute (I believe he told me it was Ein Heldenleben), and back in those days tuba mutes were as scarce as hen's teeth. The conductor noticed he did not have a mute, but Mr. Smith promised him that he would have it at the next rehearsal. Not even owning a mute, Mr. Smith decided to take matters into his own hands.
As it turns out, at that same time Symphony Hall was having a new roof installed and the base of the roof was being lined with thick sheet metal. Mr. Smith asked one of the roofers to build him a "nose cone" shaped device out of the sheet metal that he could stick inside his bell. This "mute" was the result. I owned this mute and it was being stored at Symphony Hall, but over the years it unfortunately got lost in the shuffle.
The reason for the face? The mute weighed nearly 15 pounds!
As it turns out, at that same time Symphony Hall was having a new roof installed and the base of the roof was being lined with thick sheet metal. Mr. Smith asked one of the roofers to build him a "nose cone" shaped device out of the sheet metal that he could stick inside his bell. This "mute" was the result. I owned this mute and it was being stored at Symphony Hall, but over the years it unfortunately got lost in the shuffle.
The reason for the face? The mute weighed nearly 15 pounds!