Posted by Josh Calkin on December 06, 2002 at 00:42:25:
In Reply to: F Tuba For Firebird? posted by Chuck on December 05, 2002 at 22:31:47:
I'm assuming you mean the 1918(I think) suite version, and not the entire ballet...
Our orchestra played the Firebird Suite just a month or so ago. I used a CC, b/c the was the only horn I owned at the time (I just got my F).
Yeah, it sat well on the CC, although the high muted "hits" in the "Dance Infernal" were tricky to center with my beer keg of a mute stuffed in the bell ;)
If I were to venture a guess, I'd say that the F tuba would be more appropriate in terms of a "correct" sound, as Stravinsky wrote this piece while living in France, and French tubists tended to use smaller horns back then. As such, I think the tone color of the F would be more... "accurate".
FWIW, even though I used a CC, our conductor couldn't get enough sound from me at the end of the finale, in the huge parallel chords with the trombones, so I think HE would have disliked the F at that point in particular.
If I had it to do over again, I'd try BOTH tubas; the F for the Dance Infernal (where the edgyness would be appropriate, considering the aggressiveness of the part), and the CC for the Berceuse and Finale, where a big, broad sound would be effective in the fat chords and balanced against the timpani in the 7/4 section.
HTH,
-J