Vienna Tuba

[Haugan]

In 1980 while a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, I had the "pleasure" of experiencing the C.S.O.'s (Jacobs') Dehmal Tuba. I'm convinced to this day that when he said it was O.K. to take home he meant TAKE home, literally. At the time I had been playing a lot of F tuba, having returned some 4 years earlier from a German opera orchestra (the Nuremberg Philharmonic).

The Dehmal had all kinds of stories surrounding it. Ed Kleinhammer (CSO Basstrombonist at the time) called it "Jake's typewriter" because there seemed to be NO way to quiet it's clanky primative valve linkage; Jacobs WOULD resort to playing it "crossarmed" to facilitate some technical passages; Arnold was convinced that the CSO Dehmal was selected by the Viennese tuba player who picked it out for Reiner as the WORST posssible example of a "Wiener Tuba" in an effort to preserve his own position in the Vienna Philharmonic (who needs to be compared to what Arnold was doing in Chicago at that time?). I would have to agree: It was an absolute dog of an F tuba, I had played Moritz basstuben from the tuba's infancy that were far better instruments than this "modern" Dehmal. I would expect the Dehmal Tony Clements is attempting to sell to be better sight unseen.

Iregardless, it WAS playable and listening to the Tchaikowsky 6 recording with Reiner and the CSO is a testament to Jacobs' ability to pick up nearly ANY piece of crap with a bell and a mouthpiece reciever and make it sound GOOD.

I'll never forget the surprised, disappointed, and masked horrified look he gave me when I schlepped it back into orchestra hall during a CSO rehearsal at the end of the season - I realized shortly afterword that he had intended for me to NEVER BRING IT BACK! Ooops, Sorry Arnold.

As to IT'S present whereabouts, it allegedly "disappeared" during "Orchestra Hall"'s transformation to "Symphony Center" and it's fate is probably remarkably similar to that of teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa, who may indeed lie encased in cement under home plate at Yankee stadium.

Coincidentally, if you want to "warm up swinging 3 bats" to playing F tuba (or any tuba, for that matter) well, the Dehmal would be a great buy; like many "period tubas" there is much to be gained from developing some mastery of them - their problems exist to a lesser degree in modern horns, and "picking them apart" in a practice room can only make you a BETTER tubaplayer. Tatakata, PWH.

[Haugan]

There exists a realm of speculation as to who the first tubaists were. Members of the Prussian guard most likely, but had the first tubaists been formerly ophicleide players, Bassoonists with a lust for "something completely different", or neophyte musical corps members conscripted to be "part of the big experiment"?

The setup of valves leaning toward left handed playing in the early tubas, as well as a design favoring small bores and HOW these early tubas respond when played by the modern present-day tubaist would lean very heavily toward the theory that the first tubaists were Horn players rather than "toothless trombonists or the villliage idiot" as suggested by Bob Rusk of "Frankentuben" fame.

I had a friend who now freelances on horn and plays in the N.Y. Woodwind Quintet; and at one point some years ago, she used to switch horns while playing duets with another collegue who played Euphonium. Both were VERY fine players of their respective instruments, and the result when they switched was surprisingly good.

Early Moritz basstubas in F play remarkably similar to the euphonium (much moreso than to modern F tubas) and the shape and shallow cup of the early basstuba mouthpieces actually seem to be geared toward a hornists approach to the brasses, or so I have been told by those hornists I have experimentally placed on a euphonium in the test for this theory.

It WOULD make sense - who else from a pool of musicians would be more qualified to play "a cantankerous valved brass instrument pitched in F"??

My mothers half of the family fled Germany in the latter 19th century; as it had been military practice to place the biggest and tallest members of the Prussian Guard in the front lines in order to create more imposing front lines since the Napoleanic Wars. The males in my family were being systematically wiped out.

From all historical accounts within my family, the Prussians have ALWAYS been sticklers for detailed record keeping. Even current-day Germans joke about Prussian ethics, and it was an oft-cited excuse by my collegues in the Nuremberg Philharmonic that my once a year trek to 3 seperate offices and bureaus to keep my alien-worker status legal was the result of "was noch Pruessisch in Deutschland ist" (what remains Prussian in Germany)

It is exactly this penchant for "keeping records in triplicate" that I hope to use in my favor for once - I'm off to an internet journey to Berlin as soon as I finish this post to examine the personnel records of the Prussian Guard. If my suspicions are correct, study of the "Abteilung der Musikorps Pruessen" will lend some further light on just WHO WERE THE FIRST TUBAISTS. I'll report my findings on a future post or on www.TubaNews.com in an upcoming article. Tatakata, PWH.

[Haugan]

If that's Jacob's old Dehmal that he had in Chigago in 1981, I can only say one thing: The dreams I experienced in Amsterdam in the 1970s must be a world apart from the dreams you experience in the Netherlands now. But seriously folks, like I said before, the Dehmal WAS playable. Kudos to Gary Buttery (of whale serenading fame) for taking the time, effort, and discipline to bring life back to a historic old (albeit considered nearly obsolete) instrument. I hope to hear him play it in the future!

[windshieldbug]

What would he say if he couldn't hear the singers?

Singers? You mean there are singers on the stage!?

[Haugan]

I agree Mike J. I have a number of older and younger horns for just such an occasion. It's fun to "pick the hat" for the situation. Makes a potentially boring job more fun and challanging, too.

[Chuck Jackson]

When I was in broadcasting, we got a significant number of CD's in from the Queens Hall (or Queensway, funny how your mind goes) Orchestra from England that was dedicated to performances on period instruments from the the first 20 years of the 20th Century. They were great, very clean brass, crisp winds, and a lovely string sound. No one would scoff that these were quaint recordings. I particulary liked their rendition of "From the South" by Elgar. The low brass were pumping out some sound and it was super clean, unlike some unnamed recent recordings were the low brass were pumping out sound that sounded as if it were being articulated by an 80 YO with no teeth and a mouthful of oatmeal.

I also have a wonderful DVD of the the VPO w/Knappersbutsch from 1961 playing Beethoven's 5th Piano Concerto with an ancient Artur Schnabel, Leonore #3 in what has to be the slowest rendition known to man, and Brahms Academic. There is one clear shot of the tuba player in the end big blow playing a Dehmal and he is killing it!! Lot's of CLEAN sound. Along those same lines I have a DVD of Andre Cluytens with the Radio-TV Orchestra of France from 1960 with a great Pictures. The tuba player is playing a Cuesnon 6 Valve French Tuba and, again, kills it. The best Bydlo I have ever heard and the low stuff is fat at clean, reminds me of a Mirafone 184-5U CC in the right hands.

I think sometimes we are under the assumption that just because man existed before BAT's were at all popular, that man couldn't have possibly sounded better than an average college player. As an avid collector of historic recordings, I can say nothing is farther from the truth. The best Strauss Don Jaun I own is from a 1928 recording of the composer and the Bavarian State Orchestra. Absolutely, hands down, the best played and interpreted (well, duh on that one) EVER done. The best Mahler 6? Bernstein/NYPO from 1963. Novotny and his Meinl, but what's more important is that it doesn't fall into a blowfest for brass with some other instruments on stage.

These days, I prize recording from England of British music because I love the sound of a Besson 981/2 in the right hands. I have a 1973 recording of the complete Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet with London and Previn. I think there was a guy named Fletcher that did some damage with one of those.

I think it imperative that tuba players explore all kinds of sounds. Certain music sounds "right" with the right instrument. While I could have played Frank D Minor the 4 times I played it on my big horn, I did it on an Alex F. It was easier and sounded better in the greater context of the music. That is, I think, why we are in this business, no?

Chuck" who thinks music for multiple wind and brass instruments should be called what is BAND music, not Wind Orchestra or Wind Ensemble and is best played on BBb tubas with bell fronts with a sweet warm sound with no fracking and barking"Jackson