Roger Bobo's new authorized biography: "Love Songs & Pirate Songs"

[Steve Oberheu]

Hello friends!

"Love Songs & Pirate Songs: The Life and Music of Roger Bobo" — the new authorized biography — is available now!! This limited-edition run of 544 copies is the only planned pressing of physical copies of the book before it moves permanently to a digital e-book format. Supplies are limited; get your copy now before they are gone!

Available exclusively at: http://www.upperhaymusic.com/?product=l ... iratesongs

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[Steve Oberheu]

Hello friends!

Thank you all so much for the overwhelmingly positive response!! I am so humbled and happy to share these stories with you of our maestro, Roger Bobo. Please feel free to check out this video of a recent edition of the Conical Supremacy podcast—hosted by John Noreyko and Doug Tornquist—where we discuss the book:

https://youtu.be/FO8U9Tu9Ix4

I am also happy to make available for you all, a .pdf version of the manuscript version of the Vaughan-Williams "Tuba Concerto," which includes the tuba part extracted from the score to make a readable version of the solo tuba part in Vaughan-Williams' hand.

Ever since he received a rolled-up cardboard tube which contained his first-edition copy of the Vaughan-Williams Tuba Concerto in 1955—sent by request of the composer himself—Roger Bobo has notched over seventy performances of the concerto as soloist. From the first one at Interlochen as a teenager in 1956, until his last time with the Charleston Symphony in 1988, he is easily the tubist who has performed the piece the most. It is the piece by which he learned to play the tuba at the highest level

When the concerto first arrived in the mail from Oxford University Press, it came with editing marks in the solo part, which Roger dutifully learned. During preparations for a performance of the concerto, Robert Marsteller listened to Roger as he followed along with a manuscript copy of the orchestral score. He noticed a couple of notes in the cadenza of the third movement that had been written and then crossed out. When he pointed this out, Roger looked and saw that there were articulations in the solo tuba part in the score that were quite different from the solo tuba part that he had received from Oxford University Press. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that there were many further discrepancies in the notes themselves, which had been either incorrectly notated, crossed out, or left out altogether. Shocked by what he found, Roger wrote to Oxford University Press to suggest that corrections be made, but was met with stubborn refusal by the company to alter the engraved parts.

Since then, Roger has related this information to every student who has studied the piece with him, and made it his mission to share the truth of the existing errata. This complete manuscript score—photocopied from Roger’s personal library—and composite of the solo tuba part are shared here in an effort to inform and educate, and is not meant to replace the score and solo tuba part published by Oxford University Press.

You can order and download a copy for yourself here: http://www.upperhaymusic.com/?product=c ... -solo-part

[tofu]

.

[Steve Oberheu]

It's a softcover made from high-quality gloss laminate.

[bloke]

I offered a handwritten copy of the solo part (faithfully copied from this score) to a Canadian publisher - when it was no longer copyright protected there, along with a much-improved piano accompaniment to go with it.
Rather than publishing it for what it was, they ran it past an English “scholar“ who was in the tank with Oxford, and then came back and told me - in so many words – that what I was offering to them was blasphemy.
The only editing marks that I made were in red pencil, which only made a couple of repeated figures more consistent in articulation than on that score. It sure does sound nicer played that way - without all the odd tongue markings (and musica ficta) that appear to be added/changed by someone - who perhaps was encountering difficulty negotiating the piece.

Good for you for making it available.
Is it now in the public domain in the USA?

==================

Regarding the book, does it include some pictures, and - if yes - are there any pictures in there that have not appeared before and other pamphlets, booklets, books or on the web?

[DonO.]

Regarding the VW Concerto, the discrepancies in the solo part versus the published version is not really a mystery. Vaughan Williams wrote it of course the way he wanted it, but he was not a tuba player. The soloist for the premiere performance was to be Philip Catelinet, and so they had a series of meetings at the Vaughan Williams residence. Mr. Catelinet brought his tuba with him and played for VW. In a few spots Mr. Catelinet had difficulty and communicated to Mr. Vaughan Williams that these spots did not lay well for him or the instrument. VW was resistant to making changes as any composer would be, but he was finally convinced of the practicality of the situation. That is, that the player slated to perform in the premiere was the best player available at the time and yet was not quite up to the material. With the performance deadline staring both of them in the face VW was forced to compromise his vision. Mr. Catelinet covered some of this ground in an article in the old TUBA journal some years back. I think you can still find the article online. It’s called “The Truth About the Vaughan Williams Tuba Concerto”, or something akin to that. He sort of whitewashes over the fact that he just couldn’t play parts of it, but it is possible to discern what really happened by reading between the lines and imagining what it would be like to be in VW’s shoes at the time.

[bloke]

Yeah…
I was trying to not speak poorly of the dead, and to avoid stating anyone’s specific name as a performer.

I suspect that premier performances of quite a few works – including some that later became popular to perform – were not particularly inspiring.

I’m pretty sure that - when I get home and get to my laptop - I’m going to pull the trigger on purchasing this book.

[DonO.]

Yeah…
I was trying to not speak poorly of the dead, and to avoid stating anyone’s specific name as a performer.

I suspect that premier performances of quite a few works – including some that later became popular to perform – were not particularly inspiring.

I’m pretty sure that - when I get home and get to my laptop - I’m going to pull the trigger on purchasing this book.

I did not mean to speak poorly of Mr. Catelinet. He was on of the most innately musical people I have ever known. He always considered himself primarily a pianist who happened to play the tuba. I heard him play the piano part for the VW without breaking a sweat. I can’t say I knew him well, but I did take a few lessons with him and played under his direction in a summertime British style brass band for high school students. As for his tuba playing, he was definitely top of the pyramid in his heyday. But anyone would have had problems with the solo part that VW wrote. The whole concept of serious virtuoso tuba solo playing was a new thing then, and he pushed the envelope of what was possible on the instrument. Then everyone had to play catch-up.

Has anyone here looked at the transcription of the 1st movement cadenza the way Gene Pokorny played it? There’s a YouTube video where you can here him play it and follow the notation of his transcription. He adds a lot and repeats phrases an octave down (pedal range) a couple of times. I suppose a soloist is allowed some freedom in a cadenza but Mr. Pokorny really takes it to the limit. But he doesn’t do anything that’s out of character for the piece either. Just awesome!

I’ll bet Mr. Bobo’s book is an interesting read. He was my hero in my youth. My introduction to solo tuba playing was that record album that Mirafone (as spelled in the 70’s) gave away free to anyone who asked for their catalog. I’m sure that’s the same for many others of my generation. I wish I had never gotten rid of it.

[tabert]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1edM7FN ... sp=sharing

If this is the video in question, this was a project I did for fun a couple of years ago. There is notation that I would redo, looking back, but I've unfortunately lost the original engraving file to a dead hard drive

[DonO.]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1edM7FN ... sp=sharing

If this is the video in question, this was a project I did for fun a couple of years ago. There is notation that I would redo, looking back, but I've unfortunately lost the original engraving file to a dead hard drive

Do you mean that you transcribed the notation of the cadenza based on what Gene Pokorny played?

[bort2.0]

$20 shipping is a deal-breaker for me.

[bisontuba]

Ordered last week....looking forward to it...

[bloke]

$20 shipping is a deal-breaker for me.

I didn’t notice that. I wonder if the seller knows about media mail. Perhaps there is a mitigating circumstance. (??)

[bort2.0]

$20 shipping is a deal-breaker for me.

I didn’t notice that. I wonder if the seller knows about media mail. Perhaps there is a mitigating circumstance. (??)

It's because of shipping from Canada to the US.

[bloke]

Got it.

I’ll still probably purchase a copy, but just think about it a little bit longer.

[bort2.0]

Got it.

I’ll still probably purchase a copy, but just think about it a little bit longer.

Yeah, same here. I doubt I'll read it (no time), but it seems neat to have around. Never read Harvey's book either, but I've got it.

[jtuba]

$20 shipping is a deal-breaker for me.

It's $20 CAD, if that makes a difference

[bloke]

absolutely none of my business, but if a friend of the seller might accept care of a stack of them on the other side of the Lakes, they could be mailed inside the USA for a handful of dollars each.

[MedicineMan]

As someone who has read the book, it’s definitely worth buying. It gives an interesting window into the triumphs, tragedies, and frustrations that the maestro has had over the years.

I was especially irked by (but not surprised by) the lack of respect he gets from some outside the tuba community because he’s “just a tuba player.” Grrrrr…..

[Steve Oberheu]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1edM7FN ... sp=sharing

If this is the video in question, this was a project I did for fun a couple of years ago. There is notation that I would redo, looking back, but I've unfortunately lost the original engraving file to a dead hard drive

Wow!! This. Is. Brilliant!!! Great editing job, and thank you for capturing visually the musical brilliance that Gene brought to the piece!