This concept, darker and more weighty, (Prokofieff spoke of the tuba as “like a large beetle which I can pick up and move from note to note”) capable of supporting a full orchestral chord without becoming obtrusive and being readily able to blend into a mass sonority with the low winds and strings, is much more useful on an orchestral level than the solo sound. It must be borne in mind that many of the passages in the orchestral literature (perhaps the most notable being in Meistersinger’s overture) are in truth low sonority tuttis with the low winds and strings. Passages such as the above must be played in such a way that this color is maintained; and with great care that they do not become tuba solos.
We find the same example over and over in the literature. Certainly such fine orchestrators as Wagner, Strauss, Ravel and Prokofieff could easily have left out the bassoons and basses had they chosen. The fact that they did not, that they intentionally wrote low tutti passages instead, clearly indicates a desire for a specific timbre.
The time has come for both players and teachers to re-examine the symphonic literature, especially those passages perhaps erroneously marked solo, with an eye to returning the tuba to its proper place in the symphony orchestra.
Lewis Waldeck has lived in the New York City area all of his life and has played with the New York City Opera Orchestra for the past twenty years. This article is particularly interesting because Mr. Waldeck, as well as playing the tuba, has been an astute observer of tuba trends and practices from one of the busiest musical thoroughfares on this planet.