Being in the heart of Deutschland, some of those in the Berlin also probably play at Bayreuth. Listen to the Germans speaking English. They sound much more like American English than British.
Firstly, they were developed independently, as Wagner tubas were made by request of Wagner for his ring cycle. (Although the design was probably inspired by saxhorns). The biggest differences are the mouthpiece, as Wagner tubas use french horn mouthpiece, while Tenor/baritonhorns use trombone mouthpiece. The valves are used on the left hand, like on french horns. Also Wagner tubas are usually in F, while euphoniums and the like are in Bb
Practice. Practice. Practice. But warm up carefully. My teacher says play the low stuff for twenty minutes before working up into the high range. And, "it starts to get easier if you do three hours a day"😮
This is so great. Not many realize the amount of effort to play these chorales. I remember my first times in orchestra, I would always turn and look at the horns in their solos. From the back of the 2nd violins to the front of the violas. The back of the viola section was the best view of the horns and their amazingness. Dvorak has a nice chorale in the cello concerto. I mainly listened the the germans in my youth. I loved Mahler first but when I heard Bruckner I was just stunned. Great brass parts, chorales for horns, horns when they get that blasting sound like in Ma Vlast. Why does Mahler 4 only have 4 horns? Bruckner mostly has 8, right? There is that great solo at the end of M9, with the flute, so surreal. Anyway,, you guys are so in tune, it is truly amazing. For me only Mahler and Bruckner could slow time. So I guess some symphonies play these parts on french horns? I love hearing these parts by themselves, I can still hear the orchestra in the background. My wish would be to play the big climax in M9 last mvt. Those horns with that melody fortissimo, it's not very long but such a wonderful part. Anyway no one will read this, I cannot tell you how impressive and wonderful you guys are. You get to play these masterworks in all the glory of sound, I might just be a viola player but playing in an orchestra is the most amazing thing. I always wondered what % of people in the world ever played in a symphony orchestra, around .1% or .01%? It has to be small. Last thing, I grew up listening to the 4th and 7th symphonies but as I grew older I went to the 5th and 8th. Those have pretty great horn parts but not as well known, I mean you guys know for sure. So do you guys study all 4 or 8 parts in case you have to switch or do people study 1 part only and don't move. Or you do you stay odd or even? haha
