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Ionel Dumitru was best known for his Rumanian Dances for tuba but was a tuba soloist himself and wrote a concerto in 1958.

In the second movement of the said concerto, which not sure how often or if it’s been performed in the last 30 years, has this notation in the second movement shown above. I first thought multiphonics, and editions BIM is normally great at contemporary notation (Kraft Encounters II is published by them). However, 3 notes isn’t really possible.

It should be noted that there is nothing in the accompaniment here at all—it is a tuba cadenza and appears the same way in the score. Does anyone here have any knowledge or information on this historically or performance practice on it?

russiantuba wrote: Wed May 20, 2026 10:56 am

Ionel Dumitru was best known for his Rumanian Dances for tuba but was a tuba soloist himself and wrote a concerto in 1958.

In the second movement of the said concerto, which not sure how often or if it’s been performed in the last 30 years, has this notation in the second movement shown above. I first thought multiphonics, and editions BIM is normally great at contemporary notation (Kraft Encounters II is published by them). However, 3 notes isn’t really possible.

It should be noted that there is nothing in the accompaniment here at all—it is a tuba cadenza and appears the same way in the score. Does anyone here have any knowledge or information on this historically or performance practice on it?

Yikes!

…

I have nothing to offer except the triple-stopped single eighth note high Bb is likely a misprint.

I'm sifting through primary-source Romanian resources right now to see if there's anything else I can find about it.

arpthark wrote: Wed May 20, 2026 12:14 pm I have nothing to offer except the triple-stopped single eighth note high Bb is likely a misprint.

I'm sifting through primary-source Romanian resources right now to see if there's anything else I can find about it.

Thank you. My other guess would be this was is the piano part in the reduction and they switched the instruments.

I just assumed a second (and third) tuba player were needed for those few extra notes.

russiantuba wrote: Wed May 20, 2026 12:25 pm

arpthark wrote: Wed May 20, 2026 12:14 pm I have nothing to offer except the triple-stopped single eighth note high Bb is likely a misprint.

I'm sifting through primary-source Romanian resources right now to see if there's anything else I can find about it.

Thank you. My other guess would be this was is the piano part in the reduction and they switched the instruments.

Or both... if it's a cadenza, don't sweat it!

@russiantuba do you have a copy of the full score in those sections (and surrounding sections)?

arpthark wrote: Thu May 21, 2026 11:38 am @russiantuba do you have a copy of the full score in those sections (and surrounding sections)?

It looks so much like piano writing that I would think BIM messed up and have had a publisher agree

I found a partial score online to aid me here. What's equally odd to me is that, looking at the score, we seem to be in a fairly standard tonal area (no wonky chords) with a few little areas of Eastern European-style chromaticism thrown in. All of a sudden, with this double-stopped section near the end of the movement, when we've already solidly landed on a nice V-I in the key of Gb major, there are these C naturals in the double-stop thrown in which are sort of Lydian-flavored (which you don't see elsewhere in the movement). Also, the rhythmic motion in the piano completely stops. It's an odd effect if intentional. The double stop section would sound weird on the piano, too. I would just make the executive decision to cut mm. 100-108 and have the piano enter with the Gb/Bb at the end.

Romania in the mid 1900s was a communist state with a harsh dictatorship. The fact that there was even a tuba concerto written during this time is impressive. Let alone that they allowed the budget for extra notes.

Jokes aside, I bet that historical records are scarce, original manuscripts were messy and haphazard, and that it's going to be sharply uphill to find any info about it, except perhaps local Bucharest tuba historians.

Maybe it's "pick one and play it, your choice."