ITEA Journal Volume 49 Number 2 (Winter 2022)

Of Note:
By Alexei Levashkin

Machekho and Lebedev Elected Members of T.U.B.A.

Editor's Note: The following letter was submitted by ITEA member, Alexei Levashkin, offering insightful information about two important early members of T.U.B.A., the forerunner to ITEA. It is reprinted here with his permission.

It was a long time ago, back in the last millennium, when I was collecting materials for my book, Pictures from the History of the Tuba in Russia, that I met with Vladimir Ignatyevich Machekho at his home where he handed me the document presented in this article.

Machekho was the main tubist in the USSR State Symphony Orchestra from 1942 to 1985. I recorded the conversation with Vladimir Machekho on tape, using a compact portable tape recorder. I transcribed this recording, processed it a bit, made a publishable electronic version, and recently published it on the website, Tuba in Russia, along with two other similar versions.

Tuba in Russia: http://www.tuba.org.ru/news.php

Alexei Konstantinovich Lebedev, unfortunately, was no longer among the living, but I managed to meet his widow, Vera Vladimirovna Kuhn. She told me a lot of interesting information about Lebedev, and showed me a letter from Canada, for Lebedev. I asked her if she could give this letter to me, and she kindly agreed, allowing me to use it as I saw fit.

Legendary Russian tubist, composer and pedagogue Alexei Konstantinovich Lebedev (1924 - 1993), was awarded T.U.B.A.'s most prestigious honor, the Lifetime Achievement Award. The award was announced during the General Membership Meeting of the ITEC at the University of Minnesota in June 1998. This posthumous award was given by the Executive Committee of T.U.B.A. in recognition of Lebedev`s important contributions to the tuba during his lifetime. Considerable contribution in business of development of performing art on tuba, recognition of his pedagogical talent and achievements in the field of technique, for creation of "The School of Tuba Playing", for his composing accomplishments, and for the huge public contribution to the development and popularization of tuba (ITEA Journal Volume 26, No. 1).

For my part, I was also honored to be elected a T.U.B.A. member at the 1995 ITEC conference in Evanston, Illinois in which I participated as a guest artist to illustrate orchestral parts from works by Russian composers. Several years later, I was elected as a member of the Board of Directors.

In 1969, Vladimir Machekho was visiting Canada as a member of the USSR GASO (State Symphony Orchestra of the USSR). In Toronto, he was accepted as a member of T.U.B.A. and was presented with the following authentic document in the presence of witnesses H. Robert Ryker (President) and W.D. Trigg (secretary).

Machekho T.U.B.A. Membership

The document that Lebedev's widow, Vera Kuhn, gave me during our meeting at her house is a letter which was sent to Lebedev in 1971 from Montreal. The letter included a draft of the T.U.B.A. constitution, on which there is an indication of the time and place the letter was written.

Alexei Lebedev as a young man

I, for my part, can explain why the letter was left unanswered. The fact is that in those distant times there was a very different situation, both within the USSR and in relations between our countries. Additionally, Alexei Lebedev himself was busy with work, both as a teacher in the tuba class at the Moscow Conservatory and as a composer. It was during these years that he was just beginning to work on the creation of a gigantic and epochal work "The School of Tuba Playing", as well as on many methodical materials for tuba and various ensembles.

T.U.B.A. letter to Lebedev

T.U.B.A. Constitution

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