Brahms German Requiem

[Jeff Keller]

Bass or contrabass? I won't get the part until tomorrow. Just wanted a heads up.

[MartyNeilan]

Bass, but it can work on contrabass if you have a delicate touch in the high register and a big enough choir. Listen to the bass trombone - you are basically an extension of him (and he has a much better part )

Edit - see that you have a Thor. The PT-10 would probably be a better choice for this piece.

[cambrook]

Bass for sure, of course you can play the notes on contrabass, but it's much easier to avoid drowning the choir with a bass tuba.

Enjoy it!

Cam

[imperialbari]

The 4 low brass parts are here:

http://imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/8 ... wBrass.pdf


The tuba part starts on page 13 of that .pdf file.

Klaus

[Wyvern]

Quite apart from the range, a bass tuba just provides a more appropriate tone for the part. Brahms would have written this with F tuba in mind.

BTW I would use a bass tuba for any Brahms including the 2nd symphony

[imperialbari]

Just tested my link in a couple of browser. Only works in one, as there is a copyright disclaimer acceptance procedure (or whatever you would call it) to be passed. This link goes to a directory page, where the whole requiem is under E:

http://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Brahms,_Johannes

Klaus

[hbcrandy]

Though, the last time I played the Requiem, I used my Bell Model Meinl Weston CC tuba, I will vote, with the rest of my colleagues that responded, for using a bass tuba in either F or Eb.

[J.c. Sherman]

Bass, as noted on the part and by the above players : )

J.c.S.

[Steve Marcus]

When I played this piece I used the bass tuba. A besson 983 in fact and it worked well for the piece.

Ditto.

[scottw]

Just tested my link in a couple of browser. Only works in one, as there is a copyright disclaimer acceptance procedure (or whatever you would call it) to be passed. This link goes to a directory page, where the whole requiem is under E:

http://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Brahms,_Johannes

Klaus

Something very interesting: in the cut time portions of the tuba part [Thanks, Klaus!], there are 4 half notes per measure.I have never seen cut time written this way; is this a particularly German notation? As I learned cut time, it was as though it were written in 2/2. This notation would make it appear to be 4/2. Can anyone explain the discrepancy to me?
Thanks!
Scottw

[scottw]

Alla breve means, freely translated, "as the half" or "in the manner of a half". ...Maybe this helps...??




Terms such as "cut time", "stinger", and "descrescendo" (as well as playing with a Dr. Beat plugged into a "Long Ranger" cranked to "11") are probably reserved for concert/marching band use.

Don't take me seriously regarding anything in subscript...' just teasing!
Not to be obtuse, but wouldn't half of 4/4 [or common time] be 2/2? With 2 half notes? I successfully took a lot of music theory to obtain my music degree and have yet to see 4 half notes pass for alla breve [or the more plebian: cut time]. I sure do enjoy learning something new, though.

Something very interesting: in the cut time portions of the tuba part [Thanks, Klaus!], there are 4 half notes per measure.I have never seen cut time written this way; is this a particularly German notation? As I learned cut time, it was as though it were written in 2/2. This notation would make it appear to be 4/2. Can anyone explain the discrepancy to me?
Thanks!
Scottw

[scottw]

Yes, if you take the symbol mathematically literally.

At the half, though, can also be interpreted as "at the half note"...ie: The half note is the pulse, which is true of either 2/2 or 4/2. Regardless, you can look at the music and you know exactly what to do...That's all that really matters...yes?

But imagine how tedious some of those Sousa "cut-time" marches would be if they were actually "half-time"? Played by a band, of course, not an orchestra.

[scottw]

think less

play more

Now that I am good at!

[ppalan]

I believe that what is commonly referred to as "cut time" actually is "alla breve", meaning that the unit of pulse is the "breve" or half note.

[T. J. Ricer]

When I did this with the Knoxville Symphony, I used my Old Besson/Boosey "Fletcher-mods" Eb (now owned by Ken Sloan). The director mentioned to me in rehearsal that "tubas in Brahms' day would probably have been smaller" - I took that as a nice way of asking me to play a bit softer and everyone lived happily ever after. This director reportedly later told the bass trombone player, "He's probably thinks I'm an idiot, I just realized that that was a pretty small tuba, it just has a big bell." Nice when directors are paying attention!

--T. J.

[scottw]

I believe that what is commonly referred to as "cut time" actually is "alla breve", meaning that the unit of pulse is the "breve" or half note.

I tried to explain that, but I must not have done a very good job.

Aw, ya done good!
[Still don't like it, though!]

[sloan]

When I did this with the Knoxville Symphony, I used my Old Besson/Boosey "Fletcher-mods" Eb (now owned by Ken Sloan). The director mentioned to me in rehearsal that "tubas in Brahms' day would probably have been smaller" - I took that as a nice way of asking me to play a bit softer and everyone lived happily ever after. This director reportedly later told the bass trombone player, "He's probably thinks I'm an idiot, I just realized that that was a pretty small tuba, it just has a big bell." Nice when directors are paying attention!

--T. J.

It's not how big they *look* - it's how big you make them *sound*.

A loyal Tubenet contributor picked up that horn, played for a few minutes, and then commented "now I understand how Fletcher got that distinctive sound". As usual with him, I'm not completely sure what he meant by that...

Great axe, which I think is even better since I got rid of that silly kicker and had the 3rd valve compensating loop lengthened and the main tuning slide shortened. Of course, my typical ensemble doesn't achieve the same level of micro-tuning as the Knoxville Symphony.

This reminds me that I've let my King 2341 (it was tuned at the factory) hog all the limelight lately - I need to buff up the Eb fingerings and use the Besson on 4 July. Unless, of course, my Conn 36J's surgery is completed in time, and is a success. We usually have 6 tubas, and we don't need 6 4/4 BBb tubas - I'll try to do my bit for "diversity".

[J.c. Sherman]

I just realized that that was a pretty small tuba, it just has a big bell." Nice when directors are paying attention!

--T. J.

My Boosey Eb is very offended... small indeed!

J.c.

[Bob Kolada]

Are the 15" bell versions smaller overall, or just in the bell?

[imperialbari]

Just the bell, and then the leadpipe sort of equals the one of the 982 except for the small, bassbone size, receiver.

Klaus