Search results for: 'tuba-euphonium quartet'

with Orchestra; Premiered June 23, 1990 by Roger Bobo, tuba Soloist, and the Minneapolis Pops Orchestra conducted by Craig Kirchhoff at the 1998 International Tuba Euphonium Conference. Solo parts for F Tuba, C Tuba, and Euphonium. Learn More

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with Orchestra; for Richard Raum and John Griffiths; can also be played on Euphonium Learn More

with Orchestra (piano and band accompaniment also available )

In four movements and subtitled "Creative States", this concerto will allow the audience's imagination run wild as the performer paints the picture:

I. Wonder

II. Emptiness

III. Emptiness

IV. Joy

 

This piece was commissioned by:

Amy Schumaker Bliss

Lauren Veronie Curran

Jonathan Helmick

Jamie Lipton

Gail Robertson

Travis Scott

Evagene Wellman

I tend to think that the subtitle and movement titles of this piece should be fairly self explanatory. However, after thinking about it a bit I realized that perhaps there is room for at least a little elaboration. This piece is about states that I (and you?) can put myself in when I have little or no inspiration for a piece. In that sense, it was a bit of a joke on myself as I was writing this concerto. I have always claimed that there is plenty of human and personal subject matter about which to write, so this is about what one can do when not feeling particularly inspired.

Three of the movements are states of childlike awareness - Wonder, Playfulness and Joy. The second movement is more of a meditative state, Emptiness, and is musically reflective of the piano "Gymnopedies" of Erik Satie. To me, it is a zen like emptying of oneself, creating a mental and emotional vacuum into which inspiration can enter. What is not mentioned here is that deadlines can also be a powerful impetus towards creativity for composers and other artists. Deadlines are the most terrifying, but often the most effective.

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with Orchestra. Wars and Rumors of War

This Tuba Concerto was commissioned in 2004 by tubist, Michael Fischer, and the Boise State University Symphony Orchestra. It was my fourth piece for Dr. Fischer, and is subtitled “Wars and Rumors of War”. Since I do tend to write “concept pieces”, there is some programmatic content that proceeds through the development of its underlying musical and emotional structure. Contrary to what its subtitle might suggest, this is not intended to be a political statement about war, but is rather intended to be a philosophical and even rather intimate examination of the personal effect that this type of activity has on those who participate in it.

In the first movement, imagine a young soldier in the military Reserve, being called up to serve his country. There are calls to patriotism and noble intentions, but behind that there is also something darker, more ominous, unsettled and foreboding. The soldier goes on a long journey, far away from home and arrives at a destination where he is reminded again of what is being asked of him. In this sense, the concept of war here is rather abstract, intellectual and angular, yet behind it is the unexpressed anxiety that tells us that something is amiss.

In the second movement, our hero is thinking of home, family, perhaps a wife or lover, and all things safe and warm. Here we have the concept of “peace”, but this is far from abstract and intellectual - it is filled with longing, and with the intimate and personal images that come to us each, individually, from our own human experience.

In the third movement, we are thrust into the actuality of war. The “alarm bells” are going off and there is a sense of urgency and danger, where nothing is safe and every nerve ending must stay alert to the driving force of the situation around us. There is a pause in the battle, where our protagonist has the opportunity to look around and see the carnage and the waste around him. This is not the glory that he envisioned, not what he thought it would be like, nor what he was told. It is real, and it creates a sick and empty feeling in the pit of his stomach. Before he has time to deal with this or to resolve it for himself, the alarm bells are going off again and he is back in the battle, fighting for his own survival.

Completely aside from the programmatic or philosophical content of the piece, one will also notice a certain influence from the Russian symphonic composers. I have always been very fond of the Russian composers and there is a certain musical “homage” paid to that influence in my life in each of the movements – consecutively to Prokofiev, Rachmaninov and Shostakovitch. 

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with Orchestra

Edmond Dédé (1827-1903) was a free-born black from New Orleans. He was a noted violinist and composer. Finding life hard in the mid-1800's for a black musician, he moved to Mexico and then ultimately to France. He composed "Mephisto Masque" in the 1860's. It was written for ophicleide and orchestra - today our closest modern solo instrument would be the euphonium.

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with Orchestra; A new concerto for tuba and orchestra, commissioned by the Harrisburg Symphony in April of 2016 with Eric Henry on tuba. Presented in 3 movements: I. Sonata, II. Ballad, III. Finale. The first movement is Action Sonata arranged for orchestra. The second movement features a haunting melody on the tuba, dramatically accompanied by the full orchestra with a cadenza at the end. The finale goes through several variations of a new melody with 2 cadenzas and a triumphant closing! Learn More

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with Orchestra; Trumpet or Euphonium plays the solo Learn More

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