Tuba used in Germany for Mahler 6

[Chuck Jackson]

Happy Easter,

This topic has been bandied about this forum every so often. General Rule;

1. If the part says Bass-Tuba it is played on F

2. If the part says Contrabass Tuba it is played on a BBb

That being said, I am sure for every rule there are 5 ways to interpret/break it. Not having the part nearby, I can't say from the above generalities. I would assume it would be done on an F, except that the low stuff would sound quite different to our ears, but then again, maybe playing on a Big Tuba sounds foriegn to, well, those of foriegn lands. If it helps, the DVD of "We want the Light" shows the Gurzenich Orchestra of Cologne playing Mahler 9. The tuba player is playing an F, quite well too. I saw one the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra play Bruckner 4 in 1989 and the gentleman used an F and never made me miss a big horn.

Not a definitive answer, but Mahler is very specific in his scores about designating Bass-Tuba and Contra-Bass. If it says Bass Tuba, run with the F/Eb.

Chuck

[Z-Tuba Dude]

I don't have the part handy, but my score for Mahler 6th says bass tuba.

[Rick Denney]

My part, from the Jerona-published can't-remember-his-name book indicates Contrabass tuba.

Not mine. The 5th Symphony is marked Kontrabass-Tuba, but the 6th is marked Basstuba.

(The different terminologies and hyphenation are interesting. The 1st is marked, simply, Tuba. The 2nd is marked Contrabasstuba, and the third is Contra-basstuba.)

The complete reference is Torchinsky, Abe. The Tuba Player's Orchestral Repertoire. Vol. 11, Mahler. Jerona Publications, Hackensack: 1983. It includes the first six symphonies (except for the fourth, which has no tuba part).

Torchy notes that the edition shown in the Jerona is the Kalmus edition, not the Eulenberg edition. It could be that the Eulenberg edition marks the part differently.

Rick "not working from photocopies" Denney