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I've just bought this...

M

marshanp

ellipsis addict
...because it's the most beautiful instrument I've ever seen:

https://the-brass-shop.com/cerveny-bb-tenorhorn-baritone-e949/

I was originally looking for a Wagner tuba, but nice ones are expensive. This is, in effect, a right-handed B flat Wagner tuba - same bore, bell and overall size. And this particular one is soooo lovely...

Do I know how to play it? Err, no, not yet... It appears in the fanfare group in Janacek's Sinfonietta, and has solo parts in Mahler 7 (see Chailly and Abbado videos on Youtube) and in Tyberg's Third Symphony. I don't suppose I'll ever be asked to step up... but I intend to be ready :)
 
Interesting indeed. The valve workings are quite similar to an Bohland and Fuchs (probably) valve trombone I have from c. 1900.

Presumably the fourth valve is an F valve?
 
gingermrkettle said:
Interesting indeed. The valve workings are quite similar to an Bohland and Fuchs (probably) valve trombone I have from c. 1900.

Presumably the fourth valve is an F valve?
Click to expand...
I believe that the fourth valve is to give better tuning in the low range than [1+3]. Does that mean it opens a compensating pipe? I am a complete novice in the world of brass... There is a book by John Ericson on playing the Wagner tuba which I think will at least provide fingerings for the European tenor:

https://www.public.asu.edu/~jqerics/Wagner-tuba.html

If I can't get a good sound from it, I can always hang it on the wall to be gazed at (and, occasionally, stroked...)
 
Doesn't look like it does, it would then be the same as 1+3 (plus a bit to cope with the tuning if 3 is set up to be in tune for 2+3 instead. The valves and pipework aren't doubled in the same way as a compensating horn so anything down beyond 4+2 requires a bit of lipping down (and the equivalent of 1+2+4 would be more like 2+3+4 etc.)
IMG_4871_830770a6-97d1-4e08-be17-19dceb88f5f5_480x480.jpg
 
I see... many Wagner tubas (including the modestly priced Wessex one) are doubles, but apparently the pros tend to prefer single WTs for their better range-specific tone. My initial priority will be just getting reliable sounds from this instrument!

I've downloaded the Mahler 7 tenor tuba part from IMSLP; can't get the part or score for Tyberg 3, so will have to transcribe that from the Buffalo PO recording, which is admirably clear.

The part in Mahler 7, with its glorious solos, only lasts until two-thirds of the way through the first movement; the tenor then falls silent for the remaing hour or so. In the Abbado/Lucerne 2005 video, the tenor player is seated at the opposite end of the trombones from the bass tuba, and picks up a trombone once he has put down the tenor - even though there are only three trombones in the score. Perhaps he then acts as a bumper?

I was a bit surprised to see that the tenor is not played by a horn player, as the Wagner tuba invariably is. I suppose it's a left/right thing, along with the tenor using a rather different mouthpiece to the type horn players are used to...

Any tips for a suitable mouthpiece? I am a complete beginner (and have fairly thin lips, which I imagine makes some difference). Are all brass leadpipes the same inner diameter?
 
marshanp said:
Any tips for a suitable mouthpiece? I am a complete beginner (and have fairly thin lips, which I imagine makes some difference). Are all brass leadpipes the same inner diameter?
Click to expand...
They aren't, and it is slightly tricky to tell that from a photo. If I was to be pushed and it is intended for a trombone type diameter rather than a horn leadpipe, then it is likely to be more like a current medium bore. The first port of call if so would be a 12C, it may even be worth starting on something like a Kelly while you get used to it as they are surprisingly good for the money.
 
Thank you - I'll wait until the tenor arrives and then get out the micrometer. Those Kelly lexan mouthpieces look rather inviting, and I wouldn't have discovered them on my own :)
 
I now have the DVD of Abbado's 2005 Lucerne performance of Mahler 7, and the booklet tells me that the tenor tuba player is that year's Lucerne principal trombone Mark Templeton (so presumably one of the other trombonists becomes bumper, or falls silent, after the first movement). The Lucerne concert hall is reminiscent of Symphony Hall, and the 2005 orchestra is a very starry lineup - every string player plays like a principal. Not that I will ever see a Lucerne Festival orchestra live... quite apart from getting to Switzerland, tickets are just as expensive as you might expect... but the video's camera direction is excellent.

Mark Templeton was appointed principal trombone of the LPO in 2006, when he was 31. I hope he brought his tenor tuba with him :)
 
That's great. I have a pre-1930 alto sax that I got in a fleamarket, it's on the wall. A friend who runs a business servicing, buying and selling and playing the things tells me it was made in the Selmar works, Paris. It's pre 1930 because the lower valves are on the "wrong" side. It needs a substantial service, which it won't get in my hands as I can't play, it's just a lovely thing that I got for tenners. Yours looks better, in working order at least.
 
A bit more from TTNC (Tenor Tuba Nerd Corner)... I've found several more orchestral parts:

Strauss Ein Heldenleben - 1 tenor tuba in B flat
Strauss Don Quixote - 1 tenor tuba in B flat, which impersonates Sancho Panza (this is the big one! how could I have forgotten it? maybe because it's usually played on the wrong instrument? IMSLP suggests it can be a euphonium - the first edition score says otherwise... needs a mute!)
Stravinsky Firebird - a teeny, weeny part for 1 offstage tenor tuba in B flat (turn up, play for ~3 mins, collect money, head for pub)
Bartok Kossuth - 2 tenor tubas in B flat (plenty to play)

...and a few works which some people say have tenor tubas, but don't:

Strauss Alpensinfonie - it's the standard quartet of Wagner tubas
Stravinsky Rite of Spring - the two "tenor tubas in B flat" are doubled by horns 7 and 8, so are actually Wagner tubas
Havergal Brian 8th - it's a euphonium (and it gets the opening solo, bah!)
Ruggles Sun-treader - it's a "tuba in C" (a small French tuba? not a narrow-bore oval tenor, anyway)
 
There is a French Horn video game (Twitter). It may actually be the best video game ever. Looks like he got the physics absolutely bang on.
 
Have just paid the not insignificant monies demanded by those thieving bastards HMRC, grrr... "Import VAT"? And how, exactly, is value added to my tenor tuba by moving it from Leipzig to Shrewsbury?

Still, at least it was all handled very efficiently by DHL and their UK partners Parcelforce. I was half expecting my new instrument to languish in a warehouse somewhere for weeks... and I'll have it on Tuesday :)

PS I would like to point out that, saddled with the nation state as we are for the time being, I have no objection in principle to paying taxes, even though I would prefer that they were described honestly. It is having to hand over money to dimwits who then spend it on aircraft carriers (FFS) that I object to.
 
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