Posted by Keith C. on March 06, 2003 at 17:04:22:
Had a first (for me at least) at our community orchestra rehersal last night.
The muisc librarian was handing out parts for an Overture by Von Suppe. He was stumped when he can to the low brass parts. It seems there wasn't a tuba part. Instead he only had a part for Ophicleide. He had no idea what an Ophicleide was and asked me if was possible for me to play the part on the tuba. Of course, thanks to this BBS, I knew exactly what an Ophicleide was and I agreed to do my best to play it.
This is the first time in my limited experience that I have seen a printed part specifically for Ophicleide. Based on the condition of the paper, I would guess that this score has been around for a very long time. When did Von Suppe composed? I can only assume it was before the tuba was in wide use. Are Ophicleide parts still common in orchestral scores?