Contrbassoon responsiveness?

[Bob Kolada]

Until you hit subcontra saxs and such, which sound like a spoon concerto, low woodwinds are generally more agile than tubas. if you have access to a chromatic euph or a bass tuba, try it on that. its a hell of a lot less tubing to honk through and will soumd a bit "closer" to a contrabassoon. look it at it this way, one of the big contrabassoon excerpts is ravel left handed piano concerto.

[Bob Kolada]

also google speed, mafia, and tubax.

[cambrook]

Just be thankful it wasn't Beethoven 9 ....

[Bob Kolada]

Are you using a very light, almost breath, articulation?

[The Jackson]

I don't think that trying to play the whole part an octave lower than written (ie. at the contrabassoon's sounding pitch) would be very much overcomplicating a matter that is already very complicated. If you want to play this contrabassoon part in the orchestra, one of the biggest issues you'll be facing is obviously blending with the other two bassoons. These are very different instruments, and it will take a lot of work on your part as the outsider to not stick out like a sore thumb (and I wager that that will be even harder if people are seeing a tuba next to a couple of bassoons and wonder what the heck is going on). A good contrabassoonist can absolutely bounce around in that lower register with little difficulty. What you would need to do is, by whatever means, emulate and project that same ease and facility in that range. If you can not do it at concert pitch (with the near-pedal C), then I would absolutely try it an octave above (as written). If you can't do it, then you just can't do it, and, even an octave up, it might not blend with the bassoons and rest of the orchestra. There is a lot of stuff to take into account when you want to do something this radical and I can absolutely understand why bloke gave back his part.

[TMurphy]

Will the bassoons be playing the solo passage during the recapitulation (as Beethoven wrote it), or is it being played by the horns (as is usually done)??

Sorry, this in no way answers your question, it's just a quirk of performance practice I'm interested in.

[Steve Marcus]

I went to management and told them this part was requiring too much time for the pay. You'll never believe it-- they immediately doubled my salary! What an orchestra!

As one who enjoys playing the contrabassoon parts whenever tuba is tacet, I wouldn't suggest that you refuse the extra pay or the job.

But if the orchestra is willing to pay you double, why don't they just pay to bring in a contrabassoon player?

In the Chicago area, there are more than enough contra players that a pro orchestra would always employ one of them rather than have the tuba player cover the part--at any price.

There has to be at least one contra player in Alaska...

[TMurphy]

Well, since we have the technology (our Horns have valves ), the director is "giving it back" to the horns.

DG

I figured as much...I just think it's a neat relic of the instruments of the period, and makes that piece (and Beethoven) seem a little more "human" to me.

[MaryAnn]

Given that it's a community orchestra, and that contras even in pro orchestras sometimes just sound like a very unhappy large animal growling at speed, I wouldn't worry all that much about pitch OR articulation. If you can't grab a breath and stay in tempo, leave out a note or two. Just "manage" it and they'll be glad that *something* is doing all that growling, that is not the weird animal out behind Bloke's place.

MA

[imperialbari]

Yes, take that low C an octave up. Don’t tell anybody, and let’s see if you get caught. I know about that Wasilla lady with the super-vision-for-surveilling-Russia, but aren’t Juneautics more normal humans with normal ears?

Klaus

[imperialbari]

Following the logic from astronauts, or in this AK-case from cosmonauts, would tell me to write Junauts. But after all I have no reason to call you nuts.

Sounds like you sit in an interesting ensemble.

Klaus