tenor tuba check offs

[bloke]

Suddenly, I seem to be hitting on some of the few things were left on my orchestral baritone horn checkoff list.

It's been a while, but I've done Don Quixote, Heldenleben, and - not too long ago - finally did The Planets, I just did Tippett 4 (most likely a tenor tuba part, though I chose to play it on F... so I guess it counts), next week I'm playing the Janacek Sinfonietta (please excuse the lack of accent marks), and next year (assuming the lack of unforeseen circumstances) Pictures.

I'm sure there are some-lesser knowns and could-go-either-way pieces (tuba or baritone) that I still haven't done and will never do, but - considering that I'm really just a euphonium doubler - I think I've been pretty lucky in regards to having had opportunities to cover the orchestral baritone horn literature and actually getting paid to do it, ya think?

something else:
I've done a lot of the Berlioz lit (including far-far too many Symphonie Fantastiques) and I've pretty much decided to quit being an "F tuba hero" playing those works, and the last couple of times chose to play a couple of the high tessitura ones on the baritone...It made so much more sense...

I don't believe I'll ever play Rite of Spring on the baritone, because - whether I have been designated principal or extra, I've always either been handed or chose the second part, as I consider that the most important part. I just want to use some sort of tuba that's larger than a baritone on that second part, so that I'm not drowned out by the timpani... and - as often as that piece gets programmed - I feel fairly reasonably confident that I'll be playing it again.

[BopEuph]

Janacek Sinfonietta

For the future, if you want to feel slightly less lazy, but not have to worry about remembering or typing out the accents, typically a quick google search will make the first hit the proper spelling with the accents, and it becomes a matter of copy/paste. I use this all the time when doing Finale work, and meant I didn't need to continuously use the Windows Character Map.

As for tenor tuba: It had me considering doing this with euphonium instead of trying to work so much on getting chops up on Eb or F tuba. The amount of effort put in to orchestral auditions and the resultant pay doesn't make me want to work so hard, when I can just waltz into a top 40s gig with no rehearsal and match the entire weekends' worth of pay with an orchestra when you include the rehearsals and performances. I have very solid euph chops. It'd take a few years (and more than a few grand) to be ready on a bass tuba for that kind of audition.

A friend thinks that might upset the auditioning committee to hear, say, Die Meistersinger on a euph; but I have to wonder if they'll really know the difference, if you have a really dark sound. I think the biggest thing would be to play on a Marzan style euph rather than a standard British 3+1 style.

Then again, is it worth spending the money on ANY horn when I saw the vacancy for an upcoming audition (for bass bone) is $130 per service, and no travel or lodging pay? And the sad thing is, they'll get a hundred prospective players.

[bloke]

Orchestra playing - regardless of whether it's called full-time or whether it's per service - needs to be a side hustle. The per service orchestra with which I have the most fun is referred to by the low brass as "The Hang". It's also known by other low brass players who sub with us as "The Hang".

[BopEuph]

Agreed. I know some of the more in-demand orchestral players locally really struggling to make ends meet.

Low brass players are always the fun hang on a gig. Work in string sections and brass sections. Ain't no fellow bassist saying "let's grab a beer on dinner break." As a matter of fact, most string players I work with are terrified at the idea the contractor or conductor might catch them having a beer with dinner and fire them on the spot. I've never seen it happen, but they all swear that's what will go down if they're caught.

[bloke]

What you're telling me is the oddest thing I've ever heard, but I guess I'll take your word for it.

[BopEuph]

Agree. With a specific contractor, I like hanging out with the principal cellist. I was about to order a beer on dinner break, and he said "oh, you can't do that with [contractor]. You know how he comes around during dinner and checks on everyone? Well, he's Mormon, so he's making sure you don't drink, and he'll fire you if so." The other bassists would always agree with this assessment.

He hasn't done it in years, but the contractor would visit all the restaurants around the venue and ask if everyone's doing okay and if there are questions. I've never considered the idea that he's making sure we're not drinking until that. Though I rarely drink, so it's not something that occurs to me. The contractor is getting up there in age now, so he doesn't do that anymore.

Sitting with the brass section: "hey, after this, the bar around the corner has a happy hour and some good burgers. What? Who thinks [contractor] does that? Well, if he wants to fire me for being an adult, go right ahead."

[bloke]

I've noticed that a whole bunch of orchestral musicians drink publicly. I rarely drink at all, and - if I do it all - it's at home. Of course, there's always going to be one or two orchestral musicians who drink too much publicly.

[BopEuph]

Of course, there's always going to be one or two orchestral musicians who drink too much publicly.

Yep, but that shouldn't ruin it for everyone, really. And I don't think that contractor actually does that, honestly. I think some string player started the rumor and everyone jumped on board.

[Rick Denney]

I've concluded that even the top orchestral musicians put together a career of side hustles. They teach at the local university, they maintain a studio of students. In the off-season, they teach at a summer music program. They sub in other orchestras as available. And more and more of them maintain some form of a day job. And they (hope to) marry well.

There will always be music, but there's no guarantee that music will always be authentically performed by people skilled and paid to do so.

Much of what I do is explain things, often in writing. (My engineering skills are decent but I can think of many others who are as good or better in that regard, but most can't explain it in a way that persuades others.) That is also a doomed profession, I fear, given the modern penchant for emerging online learning and so-called AI large language models. Authentically "performing" in front of groups seems to be in jeopardy. Even the "public" performance of pop stars is so "enhanced" by software corrections that we can't easily know what the performer can actually do, and we never seem to get human emotion or any sort of a point of view.

In neither case is the cause of the product being favorably served, but that's a different conversation.

There was a time when I hoped to be able to play some of the great excerpts, and not just those for tenor tuba. For me, that ship has sailed, but honestly a lot of the band music I play is more interesting at this stage of my life. But it helps that we play lots of transcriptions of great orchestral works rather than works composed for band, most of which are aimed only at impressing contest judges or academic promotion committees.

Rick "enjoy it while you can" Denney

[bloke]

@Rick Denney

I'm not unaware that I have fewer and fewer years left to participate in this and any other types of business.

As so many things are degrading, it's good for my mental health to see one or two things around here and to the point that there's a good bit of musician chatter regarding this phenomenon, and that specifically includes a couple of per service orchestras. It's obviously related to far more people being willing to go into deep debt to study music and conservatories then there are jobs to support their combination avocation/occupation, but it is they who made those choices and not me, whereby I am the beneficiary of their questionable life decisions.

One music director in particular is one who I would rate as a multimillion dollar type of talent who is working for a certainly-not-that salary. I suspect that he won't ever end up in the job that he could do better (if not far better) than some who are doing them now, because he's middle aged, perhaps not as pretty as he once was, and his gender and other things are the same as mine. Those being the realities, we enjoy the benefit of his tremendous talent, and young conservatory graduates continue their education under his baton.