Tuba Concerto (Higdon)

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The Tuba Concerto is a composition for solo tuba and orchestra by the American composer Jennifer Higdon. The work was commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra for their principal tubist Craig Knox. It was first performed by Knox and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under the conductor Robert Spano on March 16, 2018. [1] [2] [3]

Tuba type of musical instrument of the brass family

The tuba (bass) is the largest and lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibration into a large mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the newer instruments in the modern orchestra and concert band. The tuba largely replaced the ophicleide. Tuba is Latin for 'trumpet'.

Orchestra large instrumental ensemble

An orchestra is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which mixes instruments from different families, including bowed string instruments such as violin, viola, cello, and double bass, as well as brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments, each grouped in sections. Other instruments such as the piano and celesta may sometimes appear in a fifth keyboard section or may stand alone, as may the concert harp and, for performances of some modern compositions, electronic instruments.

Jennifer Elaine Higdon is an American composer of classical music and composition teacher. She has received many awards including the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Music for her Violin Concerto and two Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary Classical Composition - the first in 2009 for her Percussion Concerto, the second in 2018 for her Viola Concerto. The latter was on an album of her music, Higdon: All Things Majestic, Viola Concerto, and Oboe Concerto, that won the 2018 Grammy for Best Classical Compendium.

Contents

Composition

Structure

The concerto has a duration of approximately 19 minutes and is cast in three movements:

A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession. A movement is a section, "a major structural unit perceived as the result of the coincidence of relatively large numbers of structural phenomena".

A unit of a larger work that may stand by itself as a complete composition. Such divisions are usually self-contained. Most often the sequence of movements is arranged fast-slow-fast or in some other order that provides contrast.

  1. Dynamo
  2. Crescent Line
  3. Adamant Scherzo

Instrumentation

The work is scored for a solo tuba and an orchestra consisting of two flutes, oboe, English horn, two clarinets, bassoon, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, timpani, percussion, and strings.

Western concert flute transverse woodwind instrument made of metal or wood

The Western concert flute is a transverse (side-blown) woodwind instrument made of metal or wood. It is the most common variant of the flute. A musician who plays the flute is called a flautist, flutist, flute player, or (rarely) fluter.

Oboe musical instrument of the woodwind family

Oboes belong to the classification of double reed woodwind instruments. Oboes are usually made of wood, but there are also oboes made of synthetic materials. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A soprano oboe measures roughly 65 cm long, with metal keys, a conical bore and a flared bell. Sound is produced by blowing into the reed at a sufficient air pressure, causing it to vibrate with the air column. The distinctive tone is versatile and has been described as "bright". When the word oboe is used alone, it is generally taken to mean the treble instrument rather than other instruments of the family, such as the bass oboe, the cor anglais, or oboe d'amore

Cor anglais woodwind musical instrument

The cor anglais or English horn in North America, is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe.

Reception

Reviewing the world premiere, Jeremy Reynolds of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote, "Ms. Higdon's concerto was engaging throughout, with angular, dynamic melodies and short bursts of virtuosity in the tuba (really) throughout." He continued:

<i>Pittsburgh Post-Gazette</i> newspaper in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It has won six Pulitzer Prizes since 1938.

The outer movements were quick, with zipping scales and rapid-fire articulation. The phrases were fairly short and traded between soloist and orchestra at a brisk clip, likely due to the physical requirements of the tuba (Mr. Knox needed to come up for air fairly regularly). This made for a different sound than the long, spinning melodies of a string or woodwind concerto, but it was fresh, invigorating even. [4]

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References

  1. ↑ Ross, Brad S. (February 25, 2018). "Interview with Jennifer Higdon". ArtsComment. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  2. ↑ Reynolds, Jeremy (March 14, 2018). "PSO tubist to premiere new concerto". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  3. ↑ Kanny, Mark (March 13, 2018). "Pittsburgh Symphony presenting world premiere of tuba concerto". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review . Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  4. ↑ Reynolds, Jeremy (March 17, 2018). "Concert review: PSO tubist delivers virtuosic new concerto". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Retrieved April 9, 2018.
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