The odd thing is the amount that I have rehearsed it:
The first time I played it, did not rehearse it at all, and showed up for the concert - in tails - because the other guy got sick. Truth be told, I was actually sicker than the other person - but needed the money.
The second time I played it, it was a green sheet (Union subsidized) gig. The orchestra played through it one time, took a 30 minute break, the audience was let in, and we played the concert.
This last time (and I was just made aware that this is on YouTube by one of the cellists linking it to Facebook) was during the horrible shutdown, and was done with reduced strings, one rehearsal, and a concert after a one hour break – during which some “virus specialists” sprayed some magic wiffle dust
in the auditorium before the patrons arrived…… so – as this piece really doesn’t do much for me – at least I’ve not had to rehearse it very much.
I’m visible from one of the camera angles, but the music director admitted to me afterwards (walking out to the parking lot, as he and I tended to often be some of the first to leave) that he could never find me visually, but heard me, heard nothing he needed to correct, was (again: one very short rehearsal) terribly rushed, so he never worried that he was unable to spot me in the orchestra.
All three times that I performed this piece, I played it on my F tuba. I figure - since the part was written for a C euphonium, an F tuba is plenty.
Indeed, it’s plenty audible.
Though – again – the part is not particularly inspiring, the noisy stuff begins begins a little bit before 7:50. I’m thinking the first actual tuba entrance sounds like it’s around 7:00.
(we did play the entire symphony, but only this much of it - apparently - was uploaded to YouTube.)
The performance could’ve been cleaner, but this probably was about as clean as this orchestra could perform this piece spaced 6 feet apart, with reduced strings, and one run-through.
