Missing notes in Finlandia?

[LoyalTubist]

I think you could get in trouble for this.

Why worry about what notes aren't there? If Sibelius wanted those notes in the part, they'd be there. He lived until 1957 and if there were any horrendous mistakes in his music, we'd know it. He would have told us.

[MartyNeilan]

and maybe pull my F valve to get a HUGE single valve low C on the last note of the opening, it sounds SICK there.

FWIW, When I think Sibelius, I think dark, thick, rich, lush, etc.
Save the chainsaw effect for bigband when you want to one-up the bari.
In your defense, some of J.S.' arranging when the piece was originally composed may have been due to the mechanical limitations of bass trombones available to his players at the original time of composition. Despite what many conductors may think, mega-mouthpieced-double-independent-Thayer-dual-bore-bronze-bell-sterling-silver-leadpipe-sonic-braced.....bass trombones are a relatively recent creation.
But, remember, just because I can, doesn't mean that I should. Applies to more then just Sibelius

P.S. If you are playing things like Franck and Sibelius, be grateful even if it isn't quite the way you would like it. Many low brass players, even pros in smaller orchestras, rarely get to play such outstanding works as these. I am sure quite a few players on this board (including many "principal tuba of...college" players) would kill for parts like these.

[TexTuba]

..on this board (including many "principal tuba of...college" players) would kill for parts like these.

I wouldn't KILL...I might beg first. And if that didn't work, then comes the rolling on the floor and crying. That SHOULD do the trick!

Ralph

[windshieldbug]

(including many "principal tuba of...college" players)

I always thought that was an educational staff position, like the principal of a high school, vice-principal, etc.

[MartyNeilan]

I always thought that was an educational staff position, like the principal of a high school, vice-principal, etc.

A quick Google actually reveals both Principal Tuba and Principle Tuba with approximately equal use by both.

[Chuck(G)]

A quick Google actually reveals both Principal Tuba and Principle Tuba with approximately equal use by both.

Doesn't speak very highly of tuba players, does it?

Chuck "My effort to ferment dissent is floundering and is clearly not having the desired affect. Rather than flaunt public opinion, I think I'll just go lay down."(G)

[iiipopes]

It all depends if your principal has a principle about this sort of thing.

Hey Chuck -- I think the word you're looking for is "foment," not "ferment," unless you want it to smell, which you probably do!

[Chuck(G)]

It all depends if your principal has a principle about this sort of thing.

Hey Chuck -- I think the word you're looking for is "foment," not "ferment," unless you want it to smell, which you probably do!

Actually, my signature was full of errors.

ferment->foment
flounder->founder
flaunt->flout
affect->effect
lay->lie

The horrible thing is that I've heard all of the above within the past week on the BBC.

Chuck "Not given to laying eggs, feathers or down."(G)

[bttmbow]

I am ALWAYS a bit upset with myself when it happens, but then I remember that it's more about interpretation than perfection!

You can't have "your cake" and spell it "too".

[LoyalTubist]

Strange - it looks like you're supposed to play all four valves on this tuba with your left hand.

I have that movie. I don't remember any scenes where Officer Tuba wears a kilt. And the tuba is a normal Yamaha BBb tuba. Officer Tuba isn't weird in the movie because he plays the tuba. He's just weird because he's weird.

[windshieldbug]

Officer Tuba isn't weird in the movie because he plays the tuba. He's just weird because he's weird.

If only weird people play the tuba, then they'd have to start doing a lot more things besides copying the Yorks to produce better tuba players...

(besides, I'm the exception that proves the rule. I'm really weird, and my tuba playing is often described as suspect, not superfluous... )

[LoyalTubist]

Have you seen Where's Officer Tuba?? It's not your typical Chinese movie...

Made in Hong Kong in the 1980s, it's about a police officer who plays tuba in the police band. While on patrol, his partner is killed in a botched ambush of a gang. The dead partner's ghost gets back to Tuba (that's what they call him) to help find his murderer. It sounds hokey, but it's not that bad.

[LoyalTubist]

When I was in college, for my senior year I took a class of orchestration in which we had to memorize all nine Beethoven symphonies (a terrible thing to do to a tuba player--why couldn't it have been Tchaikovsky symphonies?) We had to memorize what the music looked like in the scores and how it sounded. (Actually, it was an easy A.)

Anyway, in the fourth movement of the Fifth Symphony, in one section the strings have a complicated sixteenth note figure while the trombones play a simplified version of it with half notes. The reason for this was that Beethoven wanted the strings to stand out while the brass sustained the chords.

As far as Sibelius in Finlandia, if you try to change anything in your part you will have purists (myself included) all over you because, as a performer of someone else's music, your job is just to play what they composed.

I never tried to change Dvorak's New World Symphony. It always seemed silly to me that all the action was going on in the orchestra and I was just sitting in my chair, with the tuba on the floor.

IMHO, this is a non-issue that could get nasty if you try to do it when you play with an orchestra!