Posted by John Swadley on April 14, 2003 at 18:28:35:
In Reply to: Bruckner posted by Curious on April 13, 2003 at 21:00:23:
Bruckner was of course an organist and the brass almost always works as a unit, many times with voicings over two octaves. This excludes the numerous horn and trumpet solos which occur in all the symphonies. There are no tuba solos per se in Bruckner's symphonies, although there are many very nice chorales and forte passages. Unique to Bruckner are the many unison theme passages where the tuba player is called upon to provide a powerful and broad base for the entire orchestra. Wagner used the tuba as a solo instrument and wrote one of the most extensive solo passages ever in Act II scene 1 of Siegfried. Such a long solo had no precedents and the tessitura is unique as far as a solo passage is concerned. Too bad for us that no one has ever taken this music out of the opera and put it in a symphonic suite. In Wagner's other music the tuba is used to fortify the bass lines in various ways, also calling for a broad tone, but not the broadest block tone needed for Bruckner. Berlioz was originally thinking of ophecleides when he wrote the Symphonie Phantastique. He was happy when the first real brass bass instruments reached France. It's good advice to listen to other players, but also listen to the music itself and together with a good conductor decide on your approach. Hope this is of help, John