Posted by Brian on January 31, 2002 at 00:33:12:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Copland's "Emblems" posted by No kidding! on January 30, 2002 at 00:41:46:
I never said it sounds any better or any worse with the mute. I said it sounds correct with the mute as i explained inserting a mute into your horn is not intended to make your horn any softer, it is intended to change the timbre of the instrument. Something you cannot do without the mute in your bell.
Would any trumpet player ever ask if he could play the Goldberg and Schmule solo in pictures open, no. Why, because that is not how the composer intended the part to sound and the case is the same here.
Copland had a specific sound in his mind that he wanted to hear, he took the time to find the instrument he wanted to portray that sound and he found that sound with a muted tuba. Granted the part is only about a dozen notes long removing the mute from the tuba changes the sound and thus creates a sound that was not desired by the composer when he wrote the piece. We as musicians are not at liberty to change parts for our convience.
Even if it requires Matthew of go out and spend $75 on a mute for himself to use once and put in a closet for two or three years it is something that should be done if he is to perfom the piece accurately and as it was intended to be by Copland.