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Being a tuba player, I've "listened" to this work, but never "studied" it.

It's already nearly ten, the reading rehearsal (chorus at first rehearsal...?? probably not) is at 2, so - pretty soon - I gotta git.

Whether the pulse is half, quarter, or eighth (and please forgive me for not using vocab. such as "quaver", etc.) the pulse - in most every part of the Proper - seems to lie somewhere between 60 and 90, with the overwhelming majority of the parts hitting right around the middle - c. 76 bpm.

I feel really fortunate that - whenever there's a "no tuba" concert, I'm allowed to move to 3rd trombone, and the 3rd player (as 2nd - for whatever reason - is not a permanent hire) moves to 2nd. I've been able to play some amazing things that I never expected I would be offered opportunities to play...

...Eventually, I'll have the B-flat cimbasso project completed (as I'm playing such concerts on my F cimbasso, for the time being) which might make some of the stuff well above the staff a bit easier. (The Mozart is an hour, with only a few tacet parts, and "heavy" playing in most parts of the Requiem.)

The regular bass trombonist is excited about playing the "Tuba Mirum".

The concert is tonight. I'm resting, and not feeling wonderful (cooties). The brass section is set up backwards. The trumpets are playing parts that could be played on trumpets with no valves, so they're over next to the timpani playing along with the timpani. The three trombones with slides during Mozart's time are not playing as a section but reinforcing different vocal parts. I'm sitting on the right hand end - rather than the left hand end - of the trombones, and I'm right next to the second bassoonist - who is a very strong player. They and I share quite a bit of the same stuff. It's quite different for me, and even though I'm a decrepit old man, I'm learning some things.

After an afternoon nap, my brain fog (which had been bugging me for two or three days) lifted, and I'm really pleased with the job I did on this performance. It was quite a bit of playing and quite a few subtleties. How fortunate to be able to do something like this.