Posted by Ken Herrick on June 23, 2001 at 19:04:17:
In Reply to: Practicing Mahler 1 posted by Chuck Jackson on June 23, 2001 at 18:26:03:
No need to be afraid of it, after all, you're not the hunter the deer are out to get!
I wouldn't consider using two horns myself. The big thing is to hope the double bass player doesn't get the shakes and go silly and throw the tuning out the window before your chance and that the tymps are in tune. Just get used to playing the solo in several keys ranging from just down an octave to a fifth or so higher so that in the end it is just another little passage. Don't try to play it too softly either as it is a solo to be heard, not a whisper to the bass bone next to you. And most important of all, the audience is there to hear a lovely performance of the whole work and not there just too pick on the tuba. You might feel like the whole thing is built around a chance to make a mistake, but that is not the case: your solo is just a few bars of a different tonal colour for an oft repeated theme in a big piece so don't sweat on it.