Torchinsky Bach cello suites movements 😎👍

[bloke]

yeah...LOL...WERE I to perform a couple (or a few) of these to open up a recital - and (per the "Gene Pokorny thing") play them LOW on a contrabass tuba (as he seems to enjoy opening up recitals with ONE low/contrabass tuba solo) - I would CAREFULLY select those (mixed/matched) which I would play - obviously: to make myself (and "the tuba") look good.

this strategy:
"Hey, I'd like y'all to listen to something I can't do, but have been trying to do..."
uh...no.

[donn]

So don't try then? Because that is what your words are saying. (I know that is not what you meant, but it is what you said.)

No, I believe that is what I meant.

But I don't really care about "exercises". I brought the multi-stops up as an issue, because for me there's a question, every time - do I try to fit that in, or not? And for me that is, strictly, a musical question. If I play something stupid for the sake of promoting flexibility, I played something stupid.

[the elephant]

I see the light and fully concur. I will immediately cease trying to get better by challenging myself. 'Tis wasted effort.

[donn]

Suit yourself. Seems more simplistic to me than I would have expected.

[bloke]

After all, it's just the tuba.

[the elephant]

Thank goodness it is not craptacular tuba music, though. Most of our rep is just terrible.

[bloke]

That

[bloke]

Other than this, I have found sanctuary in some of the oboe literature – which basically is written in the range of the F tuba, though two octaves higher (which is why some of the fluttery “spring is here“ literature written for the oboe should be overlooked as potential tuba literature)… but much of the oboe solo literature is surprisingly “intellectual“ and/or “heavy“.

[bloke]

This is a quite-fine run at one of the movements.

Were he to ask me for advice (ha! ), I might suggest that he use that huge expanse more to his advantage, and play the LOWER double/triple stop notes *LOUDER and the ultimate melody pitches SOFTER - to balance those chords' reverberations more evenly. Also (with the cello) the lower pitches are typically more resonant, whereas the upper pitches tend to resonate more "thinly". With the tuba, the tendency is the opposite, so (though it might physically feel like "wimping out") I might go a bit easier on the intensity of the melody (particularly when incorporating the pitches in Bach's multi-stops).



notable:
Most tuba players - who record and upload movements of these suites on to youtube - play them on F tuba. I would just as soon hear (vs. F tuba) them on bassoon or baritone horn (or the 'cello).
_____________________________
*That having been said (as so many tuba players enjoy showing off their low range upper dynamic prowess), I would certainly NOT (sadly: yet typically) "blatt" out the low pitches. I received it as an extraordinary compliment when a recording engineer (who regularly records -all concerts - an orchestra with which I perform, and records quite a few other orchestras' concerts as well...oh yeah: and is a baritone horn player) said to me one time: One thing that I REALLY like about your playing is that - unlike so many - you don't turn pitches - with multiple ledger lines below the staff - into marching-band-sounding blasts, and retain the timbre of the rest of the range of the tuba, when playing loudly in that range.

bloke "arguably, the most amazing compliment I've ever received from anyone ...and I've never been interested in learning how to employ any of those low-range 'trick' embouchures"

[Doc]

I like the challenge of doing the stops. Of course it won't sound as good/proper as on a cello, but I don't play cello. Occasionally, I'll do a double stop and think, 'Hey, that was pretty good this time," with the full understanding that some middle-of-the-road cellist would play it correctly and sound 100X better. But if I don't ever try these things, I won't learn or grow from the experience.

Yes, some of the double stops have to become arpeggios for tuba, but some could be done with multiphonics. Even though I am not adept and well-practiced in multiphonics, I still experiment with that at home. Sometimes, it sounds like something half-assed close to what the composer intends. Sometimes, it sounds like a Tibetan throat singer with the flu. Either way, I don't think the effort is wasted to try to achieve the musical idea you have in your head. If nothing else, it causes me to focus more intensely on the result I'm trying to achieve.

[bloke]

The out-of-print Torchinsky book isn't as good as the suites for cello, but it DID offer twenty to thirty (I didn't count ??) ACCESSIBLE movements - which peaked tuba players' interest enough to LOOK FURTHER into those suites...

...so I'm not going to snob away the (again: out-of-print) Torchinsky book, but view it as having been useful.

Are his excerpt books still in print?

With all of these "secret/illegal" dropbox sites (about which rumors have been heard ), I guess they have become obsolete, no?

[Doc]

The out-of-print Torchinsky book isn't as good as the suites for cello, but it DID offer twenty to thirty (I didn't count ??) ACCESSIBLE movements - which peaked tuba players' interest enough to LOOK FURTHER into those suites...

...so I'm not going to snob away the (again: out-of-print) Torchinsky book, but view it as having been useful.

Are his excerpt books still in print?

With all of these "secret/illegal" dropbox sites (about which rumors have been heard ), I guess they have become obsolete, no?

The excerpt books have been out of print for a long time. Yes, they exist out in the ether. I sold my collection (complete with all books) to Harvey Phillips many years ago. I wish I still had them, but they went to good hands. And I got to have phone conversations and correspond by mail with Harvey. What I really wish I still had was the note he sent!

[bloke]

Yes, they exist out in the ether.

...along with most of the rental stuff, yes?

[Doc]

Yes, they exist out in the ether.

...along with most of the rental stuff, yes?

Yes.

I'd love to know the whereabouts of a band score or band parts for Beelzebub (I might yet have a piano score after 30+ years). And the Happy Hippo (I have a condensed 4 part score). And probably some other stuff...

[bloke]

I might possibly have the Catozzi.
If I encounter all that stuff (in this chaos), I'll let you know.

[Doc]

I might possibly have the Catozzi.
If I encounter all that stuff (in this chaos), I'll let you know.

Thanks!