the only questions choir members asked about the Brahms Requiem trombones/tuba parts

[bloke]

This was an unusual concert which combined two same-denomination choirs - one from Memphis and one from St. Louis. The two choir directors each conducted about half of the Brahms Requiem, and the other one took over after the third movement.
The only thing any of the choir members asked us about was the D that we sustain for approximately a minute.

actual questions, asked of us in the choir room hallway:

> What was that thing - in No. 3 - where you were all playing the same note for a long time and starting and stopping at different times?
+ That’s called “stagger breathing”.

> Did Brahms write it that way, or did y’all just play it that way?
+ Brahms wrote it that way.

> Why do you think he did that?
+ Our best guess is that he couldn’t be sure that this would be performed with organ.

> it sounded like one continuous note. How come we couldn’t hear any of you starting or stopping?
+ That’s because we each began all of those sounds by just blowing air, rather than using some type of articulation with our tongues.

> Wow…so you discussed that ahead of time?
+ No. Not at all.

> …so how did you know to do it?
+ Well, we’ve all played this piece several times before, and also we immediately recognize stagger breathing, when we see/hear it.

> How come the tuba didn’t sound different from the trombones, when you were doing that staggered breathing thing?
+ I changed the shape of the inside of my mouth just a little bit to make my sound a little bit more like a trombone sound.

> You can do that?
+ LOL. Yes. We hear you singers change the tone quality of your voices is all the time when you sing - to communicate different types of emotion.
> Oh…Yea…OK.

> …so how many times do you think each of you has played the Brahms Requiem?
+ None of us remember; several.

I suppose the point I'm making here is that the only thing that we played - in which they were interested - was something that was functional/rudimentary, and nothing about anything musical.

[Snake Charmer]

Lots of choir singers haven't any clue what instruments can do. So they have different expectations. When they see a tuba they will wait for oom-pah

[jerseyeuph]

They understood enough to ask questions.

[bort2.0]

My only concert playing in orchestra with a full choir, the choir wrapped around behind the orchestra. So, there was a person directly behind me.

After a cutoff, this happened within about 10 seconds:

Lady behind me [upset]: Hey tuba player... Do you have to play SO loudly?
Me: I think it just sounds that loud because you're standing right above my bell
Director: Tuba! We could use a little more from you on that last part.

[bloke]

to Brett’s comments:

Over the last few decades, more and more often choirs are miked.
I remember - when I was a college boy, and many churches (moving into the current media/showbiz era) were suddenly installing high-tech sound systems - my older first cousin worked for Bose, and was selling a ton of those systems to churches.
I don’t think it’s realistic to expect five non-miked baritone singers to be heard over an on-stage full symphony orchestra brass section playing at fortissimo, but an observation that I have made over the years – with both professional singers and professional string players, is that the very best of both are capable of extraordinary sound production - in comparison to those which are merely “very good“.

Brahms Requiem Saturday:
Without the choir directors (two of them splitting up the work) having to ask, we significantly toned things down, and to the point that both directors asked for a bit more once or twice… and yes: the choir was miked with an array of phantom power directional (“V” pick up pattern) microphones.

I’ll be doing Carmina Burana, again, early in the fall. I’m going to pull out the behemoth and let ‘er rip. The choir might or might not be miked, but it will also be massive, and the soloists – of course – will be professional operatic singers.
They will all be just fine.

[Rick Denney]

When I came in for the first tuba note in the Poulenc Gloria,, about a third of the choir turned and looked at me. They had been rehearsing to a tape, and the real thing took them by surprise. (Maybe not in a good way.)

If a choir is miked, the microphones are often suspended over the choir, and in the tuba's blast zone. That can have interesting consequences.

Rick "everyone should play the Poulenc at least once" Denney

[bloke]

Another piece that will raise the eyebrow of a choir is the first run through (with brass or orchestra) of the Rutter “Gloria” - assuming a tuba player that has a good handle on the low range of their instrument.
Further, those depth charges are not at all inappropriate. If not put out there - with full powder charge, the timpani will cover them up.

[Doc]

My only concert playing in orchestra with a full choir, the choir wrapped around behind the orchestra. So, there was a person directly behind me.

After a cutoff, this happened within about 10 seconds:

Lady behind me [upset]: Hey tuba player... Do you have to play SO loudly?
Me: I think it just sounds that loud because you're standing right above my bell
Director: Tuba! We could use a little more from you on that last part.

Did you then turn around and give her "the look?"

[bort2.0]

My only concert playing in orchestra with a full choir, the choir wrapped around behind the orchestra. So, there was a person directly behind me.

After a cutoff, this happened within about 10 seconds:

Lady behind me [upset]: Hey tuba player... Do you have to play SO loudly?
Me: I think it just sounds that loud because you're standing right above my bell
Director: Tuba! We could use a little more from you on that last part.

Did you then turn around and give her "the look?"

Don't remember... But I damn sure played louder, and don't recall any further conversations with that lady.

[bloke]

I like to be hired back, because I like money.
I like a lot of people, but I like money always and I only like people sometimes.
I would probably have talked really sweet to that lady and asked her to walk up with me to the choir director during a break.
I would’ve told him that the lady informed me that my playing in close proximity was interfering with her singing, and “Is there another position that I could be placed, in the orchestra?”

bloke “People can attempt to read your facial expressions (a poker-face is always best, of course) and they can hear what you say to them, but no one can tell - for certain - what you’re really thinking...unless you really want them to.”