The Wagner Tuba

What links this Sunday’s performance of Die Walküre, and next week’s performance of Bruckner 7? It's the Wagner Tuba.
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[@cumhurbabaoglu2585]

They perfectly match the hauntingly sorrowful and noble opening theme of the Adagio.

[@CanuckFluter]

This could be the most haunting theme, depicting the greatest sorrow and despair I have heard in music.

[@olafschueren6390]

Among those who have left their mortal body, Bruckner is actually my best friend. His music undestands me, creates a connection between me and the higher.

[@raponte303]

The cut back to the players at around 1:16 is a bit misleading lmao, all of the passages they are playing are from Bruckner 7.

[@gkgyver]

Fun fact: Howard Shore's Middle Earth soundtracks use Wagnertuba occasionally.

[@CosmicAxolotl]

I know, & I LOVE IT.

[@itznoxy7193]

Which parts?

[@JeanPaul-Hol65]

What magnificent musicians for a magnificent composer. Thank you so much!

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

In Die Walküre, WWV 86B Wagner suggested a rare Eb Tenor Wagner Tuba which would be a whole step below the F Wagner Tuba.

[@Watthexe0815]

I love this sound so much

[@willnicht-sagen2562]

It truly made me Team up. Der Sound geht mir unter die Haut.

[@tulkasetorome]

Mark, you and your section's understanding and command of the instrument are phenomenal. You understand when to "bloom" the timbre perfectly. Fantastic musicianship. You have also ruined the excuse that Tuben cannot be played in tune!

[@ThisDreamIsReal]

The Wagner Tuba was used by Composer David Bell for his scores in Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Star Trek Voyager and Star Trek Enterprise!

[@SebSN-y3f]

Wonderful sound and very good explanations. Thank you very much. (I love your orchester since decades 😊)

[@N_Loco_Parenthesis]

It's interesting to compare the tone (and appearance) of this instrument with the Nordic lur as seen in the video featuring Franz Schüssele.

[@welintomgabriel5546]

Bruckner!!♥️

[@ElPescado1997]

Who's contrabass trombone is that in the back? Looks great!

[@michaelmoeyaertmusic-ld3ox]

cool

[@ヨッシー-o6o]

素晴らしいですね。一番最後のコードはメジャーに変わるはずだと思うのですが？？

[@VANGEWITHV]

What;s the name of the "song", that they're playing in the last part of the video?

[@Lostkin413]

All of the passages are from Bruckner’s 7th symphony

[@misi1979]

Are this instruments the basflugelhorns of the german brass bands?

[@zoran.rosendahl]

no, those instruments are a (Böhmische) Tenorhorn in Bb, they are more akin to a Central-European variant of the euphonium, although more cylindrical in its build.

[@georgiakolitsida]

Can I ask something? It could be used Euphoniums instead of baritone horns?

[@Lostkin413]

Well I mean the Wagner tuba isn’t a baritone horn, it’s a whole separate thing. You could say it’s a part of the horn family of instruments. Separate from euphonium and other brass

[@Markworth]

No and no.

[@robcat2075]

Fun fact: When Wagner's Rhinegold premiered, the Wagner tubas were not ready and "military band instruments" were used. Probably some of the valved brass instruments known as the "tenor horn" or "baritone", somewhat narrower in bore than our modern euphonium. I bet a lot of substitutions like that have happened over the years when Wagner tubas were not commonly available.

[@Markworth]

"It's hard to hold." It's an ovalform. It's hard to find a way not to hold it. Add a strap and it will practically hold itself. "(intonation is bad, lol)" Why are all four horns armed with a tuning bit? Using them as adapters? Sell that set (it's worth a fortune) and buy some horns that aren't in A=453 or whatever the problem there is.

[@theafellacomposer]

Wagner Tubas have always had tuning problems, even French Horn player Sarah Willis and other Wagner Tuba reviews I've seen had the same comments about its tuning. I mean, it's a French Horn cousin where you can't stuff your hand in the bell to consistently fix the intonation. It's either lip up/down to fine-tune some of the out of tune notes, and even tugging the main tuning slide up or down is not enough. Why a Wagner Tuba's bad intonation isn't fixed I don't know why, they probably prioritized the sound quality over perfect intonation, that I'm not sure.

[@Markworth]

@@theafellacomposer Yes, the pitch center is a mile wide. So you need to know what your part sounds like, blow to pitch, and be clever about fingerings when possible. Day ending in Y for a Horn player. Running an instrument with some janky tuning bit is only going to make the issue worse by introducing unnecessary problems. Is the mouthpiece gap correct? Are the octaves even? Who knows because probably no one has checked, but I'm skeptical to say the least.

[@theafellacomposer]

@@Markworth You're right. I mean, at the end of the day, the instrument is only doing half the job, the rest is up to the player. That's what I love about playing French Horn, the tuning sucks but even so, I have as much control on the instrument's sound (the hand and the lips) as much as there are tuning problems, and once I've done my homework, done my practice, what comes out of the instrument is a beautiful sound that makes you forget about the problems the instrument is plagued with. Heck, brass instruments (especially the valved ones) as a whole will never be perfectly in tune, but we players have a whole slew of tricks up our sleeve just to go around that. I'm not virtue signaling whatsoever. I'm not a good player by any stretch, I have much to learn, but why I'm crazy enough to still practice this punishing instrument is because I'm after the high I get from the end result.

[@maxh6975]

@@Markworth I've never seen a leadpipe on a horn where the receiver isn't directly cut into it. There is no mouthpiece gap on the horn. When you find Wagner tubas that are in tune and sound good let me know, I'd be happy to go round selling them to every professional orchestra I've ever played with because I've yet to see one.

[@Markworth]

​@@maxh6975every brass instrument has a mouthpiece gap between the end of mouthpiece and the venturi, regardless of whether or not it has an annulus gap receiver. It's actually considerably worse to have incorrect gap on such a receiver.

[@KingfisherLtd]

Grim

[@freewheeler8924]

This is one of the very few musical instruments that only left-handed persons are allowed to play.

[@famillebanville4906]

Bof its not realy cool 👎

[@SebSN-y3f]

😮 what?!