Tuba solo?

[Ace]

Here's a terrific performance on double bass by a guy in the LPO. This is a high-quality composition by Schumann.

https://youtu.be/g2_QouaVwa8

I'm wondering if this might be a possible piece for transcribing for tuba solo? What do you think?

Ace

[hrender]

It's a lovely performance, and it sounds very playable.

[bort2.0]

Of course!

It's actual a vocal piece, so it's already one step removed from originality. Sounds like a lovely piece for tuba. :)

[Mary Ann]

I can't find that on imslp, wish I could. Lovely, lovely. I didn't hear anything that couldn't be done on an F tuba.
However.....either there is something dramatically wrong with my ear today (I am rarely off if there is a piano in the recording) or I hear him playing an E harmonic on the G string, and am entirely confused. It sounds like it's being played in the key of E and the bass is not tuned (usually) to be able to do what I hear him doing. It's like he has raised the G string to an A.

[Ace]

My apologies, but now I'm having second thoughts about whether this song should be an instrumental transcription. I just listened to this recording and feel the song perhaps should remain forever a vocal piece. I think it needs the subtle nuances and inflections that only a human voice can provide.

https://youtu.be/1zGElTC_d-8?t=4

By the way, the artist here, Brigitte Fassbaender, knocks my socks off.

Ace

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[Three Valves]

The Sub Principal Double Bass of the London Philharmonic Orchestra thought it was a good idea.

That's good enough for me!!

Are you worried some Brigitte Fassbaender fanatic is going to boo you off the stage or throw tomatoes at you??

[hrender]

IMO there are very few solos from other instruments that sound "better" on tuba, and I say this as someone who plays such things on the tuba frequently. In my case, since I can't sing or play another instrument with any real facility, I use the instrument I have to play the music I like.

[bloke]

"Tuba solos" and "cymbal solos" are somewhat in the same category (at least, to my ears).

It's amazing how many things can be done with tubas - and with cymbals...and it's amazing how well some people play them... - but (after thirty seconds or so) it just sounds like "tuba" or "cymbals".

[Jim Williams]

I can't find that on imslp, wish I could. Lovely, lovely. I didn't hear anything that couldn't be done on an F tuba.
However.....either there is something dramatically wrong with my ear today (I am rarely off if there is a piano in the recording) or I hear him playing an E harmonic on the G string, and am entirely confused. It sounds like it's being played in the key of E and the bass is not tuned (usually) to be able to do what I hear him doing. It's like he has raised the G string to an A.

MA,
it's called scordatura and occurs sometimes in string instruments, especially bass. The whole bass is tuned up a step to F#-B-E-A instead of the normal E-A-D-G...but in a quick look at the video, I don't think I saw him touch the low string at all.
You can find it at:
https://ks4.imslp.net/files/imglnks/usi ... s_9559.pdf
Jim

[Jim Williams]

To ACE (the OP) and all others...

Please do NOT let the naysayers talk you out of playing any damn piece of music you want.

If you do perform it in public, people may leave with a very favorable impression of your musicianship and the sound of the tuba.

Even if you DON'T perform it in public, you will become a BETTER MUSICIAN by trying to emulate the inflections and stylistic devices used by Fassbaender and others.

If people don't like to play tuba solos, then they shouldn't play tuba solos. As Vincent Persichetti once famously told Harvey Phillips, "all music is yours."
Are all tuba solos masterworks? Of course not...neither are all solos for flute, cello, viola, etc. masterworks.

If the "tuba solos suck" viewpoint had persisted through time, you tuba players would still all be playing "Jig Elephantine" or "The Hippo's Waltz."

So...everybody play any piece of music you jolly darn well please, in any style, and tune out the negativity.

Jim "gave up the tuba in 1974, sold it, and switched to euphonium in 1976 after taking time off to enjoy a couple years in the Netherlands, and still plays whatever tune he feels like to get better, even at age 68" Williams

[Ace]

Jim,
I appreciate the thoughts outlined in your responses. It is especially illuminating to learn about the Hippo's Waltz piece, a work which somehow has mercifully escaped my attention. I'll do some YouTube research hoping to find a performance of this piece. Then again, maybe not.
Ace

Addendum:
Well, what do know? Here it is.

https://youtu.be/imxqsq8Fgj0

[Doc]

Here's a terrific performance on double bass by a guy in the LPO. This is a high-quality composition by Schumann.

https://youtu.be/g2_QouaVwa8

I'm wondering if this might be a possible piece for transcribing for tuba solo? What do you think?

Ace

If this piece speaks to you, go for it. It was played beautifully, and I'm sold on it as a piece of music, and I personally think it would sound great on tuba, but that's my opinion.

I agree that there are many tuba solos that are "ok," "meh," or don't have the same appeal that other works do, and there are some tuba solos that I really enjoy as a listener and a player. But that's music, isn't it? Everyone doesn't love everything, and that's fine. There's plenty of music - all styles, all instruments, etc - for everyone to find something that speaks to them. And unless your in a college studio with a teacher who expects you to focus on tuba literature as a matter of course, there is no reason to limit yourself to tuba literature. Unless, of course, you seek to investigate the mysteries of tuba literature for your own enjoyment/knowledge/growth. During my studies, I did the standard tuba solos, excerpts, Bordogni, Blazevich... all the typical tuba stuff, but I was also asked to play out of songbooks from the 1920s and 1930s, play tunes for other instruments, play piano sheet music and out of church hymnals, and play my favorite big band, western swing, classic country, and jazz tunes by ear. Although building proficiency on the instrument and with the staple literature was a big part of the deal, the making of music was paramount.

Get into some tuba solos. Get into other solos (vocal, instrumental). What kind of music speaks to you? What genres do you like? What are some of your favorite tunes? If you like the Schumann, buy it. If it's in the wrong key/clef/whatever, change it to what works for you. Play what you enjoy - if you do, that joy will be communicated to your audience, even if the audience is just you.

[Mary Ann]

I can't find that on imslp, wish I could. Lovely, lovely. I didn't hear anything that couldn't be done on an F tuba.
However.....either there is something dramatically wrong with my ear today (I am rarely off if there is a piano in the recording) or I hear him playing an E harmonic on the G string, and am entirely confused. It sounds like it's being played in the key of E and the bass is not tuned (usually) to be able to do what I hear him doing. It's like he has raised the G string to an A.

MA,
it's called scordatura and occurs sometimes in string instruments, especially bass. The whole bass is tuned up a step to F#-B-E-A instead of the normal E-A-D-G...but in a quick look at the video, I don't think I saw him touch the low string at all.
You can find it at:
https://ks4.imslp.net/files/imglnks/usi ... s_9559.pdf
Jim

Fascinating that I have apparently forgotten the term "scordata." Most familiar with the violin solo in something whose name I also can't remember....have to tune the E string down to Eb, and it starts with a double stop on that Eb and the A string. With my blasted pitch sense I am not able to play an untuned stringed instrument, nor am I able to play with a capo on a guitar. But I am very glad that possibly my ear was not in the toilet and possibly he tuned it up a step, although I don't know why he would have done that....with that piece you wouldn't think he'd want it more brilliant sounding. However, that is the nicest ultra-high-range bass playing I've ever heard. Most sound downright whiney.