Posted by Erik on December 13, 2000 at 20:34:06:
In Reply to: Re: Is there instrument bias? posted by Carl L on December 13, 2000 at 10:34:31:
And why don't they feel it makes a contribution? Because the tuba rarely is put at the forefront of a piece of music. This is especially true for most of the $5 classical hits cds you see at places like Best Buy et al. When people (the majority) limit most or all of their classical listening to Bach, Mozart, Beetoven, and a little Four Seasons, they hear zero tuba. They end up only hearing tubas playing in various parades, which is why when you say tuba to some people, they respond with, "OH! Bup, bup, Bup, bup" (5-1 5-1 march bassline). And even if they do have a more extensive familiarity with classical music, with the exception of a few notable pieces that we all know very well, the tuba takes the back seat to most of the other sections of the orchestra. Is there anything that can be done about this? Not unless you sit people down and point out the tuba in recordings.
Erik
BTW, this reminds me of something that I heard at Porkony's concerto in June. During a silence in the music, an (elderly sounding) woman was heard to utter "thank god that's over." I felt sorry for Gene, but he probably could have had a good laugh at it. Just goes to show some of the limitted appreciation of classical music, even by concert-goers.