Tuba

“ The tuba is represented, together with the buccina and cornu, on Trajan's column in the scenes described by Vegetius.
During the middle ages the tuba was as great a favourite as the busine (see Buccina and Trumpet) , from which it may readily be distinguished by its marked conical bore and absence of bell. ”

“ HELICON (Fr. hélicon, bombardon circulaire; Ger. Helikon) , the circular form of the B♭ contrabass tuba used in military bands, worn round the body, with the enormous bell resting on the left shoulder and towering above the head of the performer. The pitch of the helicon is an octave below that of the euphonium. The idea of winding the long tube of the contrabass tuba and of wearing it round the shoulders was suggested by the ancient Roman buccina and cornu, represented in mosaics and on the sculptured reliefs surrounding Trajan’s Column. ”

“ It tells the story of a frustrated tuba who complains that he must always play uninteresting “oompahs oompahs” while the violins are always assigned the most beautiful tunes. In the end Tubby happily gets a wonderful melody of his own to enjoy and play. All the characters in this tale are instruments of the orchestra. In 1946 a recording of Tubby the Tuba sold over a quarter of a million albums. Paramount made a movie of it, and major orchestras throughout the country presented it both at children’s concerts and in its regularly symphonic repertory. ”

“ There is a fine tuba solo, in unison with the double-basses, at the opening of Wagner’s “Eine Faust” overture, and frequent examples of harmony for three trombones and tuba are to be found in the works of the Bayreuth master. In writing for the full brass choir alone a composer has the choice of several methods. He may give the melody to a trumpet or cornet, and use the other instruments for the harmony, or he may let a horn (or two horns in unison) take the melody. If he desires much force, he may give the melody to a trumpet and double it with a trombone. ”

“ It is very rich in its deepest notes. If we do not try to listen for them we shall not be able to distinguish them from the other bass instruments of the Orchestra.
The tone of the bass tuba might be described as partaking of both the trombone and the organ. Many of the beautiful effects in Wagner’s Nibelungen Ring are due to this great tuba of five cylinders. Wagner uses it to describe the deep, dark caverns under the Rhine and to suggest the first heavy roll of the waves in Das Rheingold; and it is the instrument on which the dragon, Fafner, speaks in Siegfried. ”

“ The wind-pressure of a Tuba, as measured by an ordinary wind-gauge, varies considerably; in some cases it does not exceed 7 inches, but in St. Paul's Cathedral the pressure reaches 171⁄2 inches, and in the Albert Hall 23 inches or more. The pipes are of 'large scale,' and the tongues of the reeds are, of course, thicker than in the common Trumpet-stop. The Tuba is not solely used as a Solo stop; on large instruments, when coupled to the full Great Organ, it produces a most brilliant effect. ”

“ Instruments like the corno di bassetto, bass trumpet, tenor tuba, contra-bass tuba, and contra-bass trombone are so seldom called for in the music played by concert orchestras that they have no place in their regular lists. ”

“ The tuba auditiva, or Eustachian tube, is a cartilaginous tube about one and a half to two centimeters long, passing from the nasopharynx to the middle ear and placing these two cavities in communication. The pharyngeal opening is at about the middle of the length of the nasopharynx, near the dorsal border of the lateral wall; it is a narrow slit two or three millimeters long. Thence the tube passes caudolaterad on the ventral surface of the sphenoid bone, and enters the tympanic cavity through the opening just laterad of the styliform process of the tympanic bulla. ”

“ The trombones, trumpets and tuba are occasionally tacet for long periods, the percussion is seldom employed, and practically never all together, but in single instruments or in two's and three's. In national dances or music in ballad style, percussion instruments may be used more freely.
After a long rest the re-entry of the horns, trombones and tuba should coincide with some characteristic intensity of tone, either pp or ff; piano and forte re-entries are less successful, while re-introducing these instruments mezzo-forte or mezzo-piano produces a colourless and common-place effect. ”

“ The lituus, or cavalry trumpet of the Romans, consisted of a cylindrical tube, to which was attached a bent horn or conical bell, the whole in the shape of a J. The long, straight Roman tuba was similar to the large, bent cornu so far as bore and capabilities were concerned, but more unwieldy. All these wind instruments seem to have been used during the classic Greek and Roman periods merely to sound fanfares, and therefore, in spite of the high degree of perfection to which they attained as instruments, they scarcely possess any claim to be considered within the domain of music. ”

“ They collect many hundred bundles of the roots of the tuba-plant, and beat them out in their canoes, keeping them wet, and permitting the juice, which has an intoxicating property, to flow into the bottom of their boats. When they have sufficient, they throw it into the water at the mouths of the rivers just at the turn of the flood-tide ”

“ The natural method, however, is to let a trumpet, which is a good soprano voice, sing the air, while the other trumpet and three of the horns take the middle voices, the fourth horn and first and second trombones the lower middle voices, the third trombone and tuba the bass. ”

“ One hearer, then, may take the motive, poco largamente, early in the work, given to trombones and tuba fortissimo with drum-roll, for Iokanaan's denunciation, and recognize the significance of its entrance after the dance, while to another the motive may have another meaning. So, too, there may be various opinions concerning the precise significance of other themes. It is enough to say that the music follows the course of the published argument. ”

“ In making plans for the organization of a group of wind instrument players into a band, it should be noted by the conductor that here the entire harmony must be supplied by the individual instruments (no piano being used) thus making it necessary to have alto, tenor, and baritone saxhorns in addition to cornets, clarinets, flutes, and trombones. The tuba is also almost indispensable, while the inclusion of two or three saxophones will greatly increase the mellowness of the effect as well as providing an additional color to make the tonal textures more interesting. ”

“ The tube is in part made double, one part sliding over the other. By moving his arm, the player lengthens or shortens the tube, and thus changing the key of the instrument, acquires all the tones which can be obtained from so many tubes of different lengths. The mouth-pieces of the trumpet, trombone, and tuba are cup-shaped, and larger than the mouth-piece of the horn, which is little else than a flare of the slender tube, sufficiently wide to receive enough of the player's lips to form the embouchure, or human reed, as it might here be named.
The French horn.
Manipulation of the French horn. ”

“ Use brass instruments piano. But the trumpets, trombones and tuba of Wagner’s usual Orchestra cannot produce enough of it. He, therefore, supplements them by other instruments of their family: a bass trumpet, two tenor and two bass tubas, a contrabass trombone and a contrabass tuba. Then the full band of thirteen brass instruments is ready for one of the simplest and noblest effects of sonority in existence.
“At the close of the Rheingold, Donner with his thunder-hammer clears the air of mist and storm-clouds ”

“ C no longer needs to be 16 ft. long but only 8 ft. The older instruments, such as the saxhorns, with narrow bore, have therefore been denominated “half instruments,” because only half the length of the instrument is of practical utility, while the tubas with wide bore are styled “whole instruments.” [1] Bombardons are made in E flat and F of the 16 ft. octave, corresponding to the orchestral bass tuba, double bass in strings, and pedal clarinet and contrafagotto in the wood wind. ”

“ Alfred Morton, in England, has constructed double bassoons on Dr Stone’s design (fig. 2) . (3) The third model is of brass and consists of a conical tube of wide calibre some 15 or 16 ft. long, curved round four times upon itself and having a brass tuba or euphonium bell which points upwards. ”

“ The pitch sounded by the trombone is altered by lengthening or shortening the tube of which the instrument is constructed, this being possible because the lower part slides into the upper and can be pulled out to increase the total length of the tube through which the air passes. There are usually three trombones in the orchestra, each playing a separate part, and the combination of this trio (with the tuba reinforcing the bass part) is majestic and thrilling, being powerful enough to dominate the entire orchestra in Fortissimo passages. ”

“ La Mer is scored for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, three bassoons and contra-bassoon, four horns, three trumpets, two cornets-à-pistons, three trombones, bass tuba, kettledrums, bass drum, cymbals, tam-tam, glockenspiel, two harps, and strings. ”

“ On the other hand, Jean Louis Nicode, in the “Phosphorescent Lights” movement of his symphonic ode “The Sea”—a movement of purely descriptive and imitative music—calls for a concealed brass band consisting of 3 trumpets, 7 trombones, and a bass tuba, together with 1 piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 tenor tubas, 1 bass tuba, 2 pairs of kettle-drums, 1 pair of cymbals, 1 triangle, 1 bass drum, 1 gong, 1 set of bells, 2 harps, and the usual strings. ”

“ The lines (after the first) varied in length by pairs, the second and third lines having the same number of syllables, the fourth and fifth likewise equal to each other, but differing in length from the second and third; and so on through the Sequence, until the last line, which commonly stood alone and differed in length from the preceding pairs. The Sequence called “Nostra tuba” is a good example. Probably it was composed by Notker, and in his later years; for it is filled with assonances, and exhibits a regular parallelism of structure. ”

“ It may have been of Etruscan origin: Müller-Deecke, Etrusker, ii. 206. A special kind of tuba seems to have been used at funerals: Gell. N. A. 20. 2; Marq. Privatleben, i. 341.
182. For the military use, Liv. ii. 64. They were also used in sacris Saliaribus Paul. 19, s. v. Armilustrium. Wissowa (de Feriis xv) mentions a relief in which the Salii are preceded by tubicines laureati (published in St. Petersburgh by E. Schulze, 1873) .
183. C. I. L. 313. He is of opinion that the note was among those ‘non tam a Verrio scriptas quam male ex scriptis eius excerptas.’
184. ”

“ A world of majestic light, as exposed by the homogeneity of trumpets and trombones, is made to stand out in strong relief against the tubas' luxuriant wealth of harmony, or the veiled yet picturesque tonal tints of horns. The introduction of a complete group of tubas was certainly an entirely new idea. Much of Wagner's warm and rich orchestration is due to a substratum of soft brass harmonies that are apparently not audible at all. No composer knew better than he how to obtain the best effects from instruments of percussion without overstepping the bounds of artistic refinement. ”

“ Again we hear, in the tubas, the uncouth and cacophonous phrase which voices the dull contempt of the benighted adversaries. Even the glorious achievements of the Hero's brain, his spiritual conquests, have won only envy and derision. The protagonist rebels mightily; there are passionate and tempestuous phrases, reminiscences of his theme, in the strings, horns, and wood-wind. But his mood quiets. Over a persistent tapping of the kettle-drum, the English horn intones a gentler version of his theme. ”

“ FEET. FEET. Rohr Flute 4 Tuba Sonora 8 Bombarde 16 Orchestral Oboe 8 Tuba Mirabilis 8 PEDAL ORGAN (13 STOPS) . FEET. FEET. Gravissima 64 Octave Violone 8 Double Open Diapason 32 Flute 8 Contra Violone 32 Diaphone 32 Tibia Profunda 16 Diaphone 16 Open Diapason 16 Tuba Profunda 16 Violone 16 Tuba 8 Bourdon 16 Couplers: Choir, Great, Swell, Solo to Pedal; light wind Great Sub Oct (on itself) ; Great reeds Super Oct (on themselves) ; Solo to Great, Sub, Super and Unison; Swell to Great, Sub, Super and Unison; Choir to Great, Sub and Unison. Swell Sub and Super Octave (on itself) ; Solos to Swell ”

“ The use of stopped notes and mutes alters the character of brass tone. Stopped notes can only be employed on trumpets, cornets and horns; the shape of trombones and tubas prevents the hand from being inserted into the bell. Though mutes are applied indiscriminately to all brass instruments in the orchestra, tubas rarely possess them. Stopped and muted notes are similar in quality. On the trumpet, muting a note produces a better tone than stopping it. ”

“ There is a modulation to A flat major, and the cantilena is repeated. After the entrance again of the chief melody and the restoration of the original tonality there is a crescendo of great and imposing force. This is over, and the tubas chant the answer to the chief theme and after an interlude for strings the chief theme itself, C sharp major. The horns take up the cantilena, and the last chord, C sharp major, dies away in brass instruments to a pizzicato of the strings.
III. Scherzo: sehr schnell (very fast) , A minor, 3-4. ”