388
7 The Amazing Diversity of Brass Instruments
The brassiness potential parameter value B = 0.46 for the bass tuba is
intermediate between the values for the ophicleide and the trombone. Describing
a similar instrument made by Adolphe Sax, Berlioz commented that
The sound of Sax’s tuba is not only steadier than that of the ophicleide, but stronger and
of better quality. Its brassy resonance harmonises completely with the trombones and lacks
the dull sound made by the best ophicleide players. (Macdonald 2002).
Here Berlioz is evidently referring to fortissimo chords by a trombone ensemble,
with either an ophicleide or a bass tuba playing the bass part. Despite his clearly
expressed preference for the tuba’s brassy character, he admits that the ophicleide
can also play a useful role in this type of ensemble:
The tone of the low notes [on ophicleides] is rough, but they can work wonders beneath a
body of brass instruments in certain circumstances. (Macdonald 2002).
7.8.5 Berlioz and Pedal Notes
Berlioz exploited the dramatic effect of a fortissimo trombone pedal note at several
points in his symphonic works. In the Requiem he called for pedal notes at several
different slide positions, commenting in his ‘Treatise on Orchestration’ that he had
to convince several of the trombonists in the first performance that these pedal
notes were indeed playable (Macdonald 2002). Berlioz was a most imaginative and
original orchestrator, with a particular fascination for the varied sonorities which
could be found in combinations of brass instruments. The passage in the Requiem
in which unison pedal notes on several tenor trombones are accompanied only by
flutes playing around four octaves higher has frequently been criticised, but it is
clear from the discussion of this passage in the ‘Treatise’ that the admittedly bizarre
result was carefully calculated and intentional.
Another example of the use of trombone pedal notes for dramatic effect is found
in the Marche au supplice from the Symphonie Fantastique (Fig. 7.67). Berlioz
explains his goal thus:
I needed to devise low harmonies of exceptional savagery in an unusual sonority. I believe
I achieved this . . . by this diminished seventh between an ophicleide and a tenor trombone’s
pedal A. (Macdonald 2002).
It is significant that, although a B bass ophicleide could have played the lower
line in Fig. 7.67, Berlioz assigned the line to unison tenor trombones. His demand
for the magnificent snarling brassiness of a sforzando pedal note on the trombones
was not understood by the editors of an early twentieth-century version of the
score, in which the upper line was reassigned to a single trombone while the lower
line was given to two tubas. The effect of this re-orchestration might have been
impressive, but it was certainly far from the sound which Berlioz intended. It is good
7 The Amazing Diversity of Brass Instruments
The brassiness potential parameter value B = 0.46 for the bass tuba is
intermediate between the values for the ophicleide and the trombone. Describing
a similar instrument made by Adolphe Sax, Berlioz commented that
The sound of Sax’s tuba is not only steadier than that of the ophicleide, but stronger and
of better quality. Its brassy resonance harmonises completely with the trombones and lacks
the dull sound made by the best ophicleide players. (Macdonald 2002).
Here Berlioz is evidently referring to fortissimo chords by a trombone ensemble,
with either an ophicleide or a bass tuba playing the bass part. Despite his clearly
expressed preference for the tuba’s brassy character, he admits that the ophicleide
can also play a useful role in this type of ensemble:
The tone of the low notes [on ophicleides] is rough, but they can work wonders beneath a
body of brass instruments in certain circumstances. (Macdonald 2002).
7.8.5 Berlioz and Pedal Notes
Berlioz exploited the dramatic effect of a fortissimo trombone pedal note at several
points in his symphonic works. In the Requiem he called for pedal notes at several
different slide positions, commenting in his ‘Treatise on Orchestration’ that he had
to convince several of the trombonists in the first performance that these pedal
notes were indeed playable (Macdonald 2002). Berlioz was a most imaginative and
original orchestrator, with a particular fascination for the varied sonorities which
could be found in combinations of brass instruments. The passage in the Requiem
in which unison pedal notes on several tenor trombones are accompanied only by
flutes playing around four octaves higher has frequently been criticised, but it is
clear from the discussion of this passage in the ‘Treatise’ that the admittedly bizarre
result was carefully calculated and intentional.
Another example of the use of trombone pedal notes for dramatic effect is found
in the Marche au supplice from the Symphonie Fantastique (Fig. 7.67). Berlioz
explains his goal thus:
I needed to devise low harmonies of exceptional savagery in an unusual sonority. I believe
I achieved this . . . by this diminished seventh between an ophicleide and a tenor trombone’s
pedal A. (Macdonald 2002).
It is significant that, although a B bass ophicleide could have played the lower
line in Fig. 7.67, Berlioz assigned the line to unison tenor trombones. His demand
for the magnificent snarling brassiness of a sforzando pedal note on the trombones
was not understood by the editors of an early twentieth-century version of the
score, in which the upper line was reassigned to a single trombone while the lower
line was given to two tubas. The effect of this re-orchestration might have been
impressive, but it was certainly far from the sound which Berlioz intended. It is good