Posted by Chuck Jackson on February 20, 2000 at 21:50:42:
In Reply to: Prokofiev's Tubist?? posted by Dan Bradley on February 20, 2000 at 15:48:19:
Interestingly enough, while Prokofiev knew of the tuba, which he called a "big beetle that I can pick up and set down where I like", there are veiled references to the fact that he did almost none of his own orchestration(read Volkov's 'Testimony' about Shostakovich who derides Prokofiev about his lack of experience in orchestration and chiding him for having someone do it for him). I think Prokofiev dealt in colors when he wrote, considering some of the writing, particularly the slow movement of the 5th, and he requested orchestration to match the color he had in mind. The most striking example is the octave juxtapostion of the bass clarinet and high strings in the main theme. He knew the sounds he wanted and relied on orchestrators to fill in the gaps. The tuba parts are beautful, but for the most part do alot of doubling with the basses, the exception being "Nevsky". Also, considering where he wrote for most of the big works, Russia, the times were tenuous at best and he may have needed a tuba player to support the bass lines because someone got sent to the gulag. I am aprticullary interested to know who had the amazing low chops, but then again, the lines could have been written and expected to be played rather than writing them for a specific person. Whatever the reasons, we a re fortunate to have a tuba concerto from every piece he wrote.