A Blow for the Tuba

As any musician knows, it takes a lot of brass to be a tuba player. Generally, tubas range in size from the B-flat tenor (10 Ibs., 151 in. of tubing), which is hugged to the player's chest and sometimes goes pah-pah, to the large, economy-size B-flat bass (29 Ibs., 387 in.), which is often worn somewhat like a life preserver and mostly goes oompah. One thing that tuba players have in common is a fear that audiences are laughing at them. To many nonmusicians, indeed, the tuba appears absurd --there is always some fellow in the audience who hopes to see a pair of pigeons flutter wildly out of the bell at first blast.

But there are serious musicians with courage and talent enough to pursue this particular musical career without suffering any noticeable inferiority complex.

Such a man is 43-year-old Phil Catelinet, one of England's foremost tuba players. Last week Phil Catelinet realized a secret dream of tubamen everywhere: he played a full-fledged tuba concerto with the London Symphony.

A Call. Catelinet, who started out as a child in the brass section of a Salvation Army band, now plays tuba for both London's Philharmonia Orchestra and the London Symphony. Six weeks ago, he got an important call. The London Symphony, preparing for its soth jubilee concert, had asked Ralph Vaughan Williams, Britain's No. 1 composer, to write a special composition for the celebration. Vaughan Williams just happened to have a tuba concerto * lying around, agreed to have it played if the orchestra had a tubaman up to the job. Would Catelinet like to audition for Vaughan Williams? Into London's frisky traffic went Catelinet, his tuba and his piano accompanist.

At Vaughan Williams' house in Regent's Park, he played for the old (81) composer, who quickly approved. Catelinet practiced till he knew the concerto inside and out, rehearsed only twice with the orchestra (under Sir John Barbirolli) before the big night.

Unhappily, there was a mix-up at the concert: Catelinet's place on the program was changed without his knowledge, and he had to wait in the wings, hugging his tuba, for 20 minutes. By the time they got onstage, both Catelinet and his instrument (which, like all cussed brasses, needs a lot of last-minute tootling to warm it up) had a case of chills. The orchestra broke into the concerto, and the tuba came in disconcertingly off cue. The whole first movement, in fact, sounded as if there were pigeons in the brass, alas.

A Romp. The tuba yawned selfconsciously through a mass of quavers like a gigantic empty stomach, rumbling from note to note, fluffing some quick passages, squawking agonizingly slowly through deep bass notes. Then came the cadenza, which was really too intricate for a tuba. The instrument cleared its throat and got going. But soon the movement ended in a romp, with orchestra and tuba neck and neck. The second movement came off beautifully. In a slower, sustained tempo. Catelinet poured out a rich sound, often booming up from the bass into a fruity contralto. Warmed up now, he launched into the difficult final movement with confidence. The tuba lumbered along in its elephantine way and right into another cadenza. This time Catelinet's solo came off well, and tuba and player ended with a fine flourish.

There were hearty rounds of applause for Tubaman Catelinet, Conductor Barbirolli and Composer Vaughan Williams, who was sitting in the front row. Next day the London Times summed up: "The tone . . . was sufficiently rich and warm to fire any composer's imagination, but [Catelinet] did not suggest that the tuba can do much in the way of varied phrasing or dynamic nuance to repay promotion to a solo status."

The Times may have been right, but none could deny that Phil Catelinet had struck a blow for the tuba.

* Other such unusual compositions: Vaughan Williams' own Romance jor Harmonica and Orchestra, Serse Koussevitzky's Concerto for Double Bass, Jaromir Weinberger's Concerto for timpani, with four trumpets and four trombones, Mozart's Adagio and Rondo for glass harmonica, flute, oboe, viola and cello.

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