Description
Bethame  Mucho is a 7 minute composition for Solo Tuba And Piano. It was commissioned by Beth Mitchell to be co-premiered at the 2025 Women’s Brass Conference and at the International Tuba Euphonium Conference (ITEC) in Spain. Beth received her DMA with me at USC and is a highly respected Los Angeles area teacher and free-lance tubist. The title is another of my “punny” ones combining Beth’s name with the famous Latin song, Besame Mucho. The piece is in several segue sections beginning with legato intro that ends with a brief quote from the Latin song. Then comes a melodic waltz in Db major that is harmonically based on a particular interesting set of jazz chord changes. The melody is first stated in the tuba and is repeated in the piano with tuba accompaniment. This is followed by a much faster imitative section that morphs into an odd-meter section where the piano is in mixed meters and the solo tuba has a hemiola 4/4 melody over it. Then a brief quote of the intro introduces a quasi-cadenza for the tuba. An even faster funky/samba groove section follows with disco figures and the piece finishes with a re-statement of intro. That ends on the quote in Dm and finally resolves to a D Maj. 7th final chord. It’s a lot of fun to play and hear, but it takes a strong tuba soloist to play well.
Jim Self is a Los Angeles free-lance musician, a veteran of thousands of motion pictures, television shows and records, and tuba soloist on many prominent movies. He is Principal Tubist with the Pasadena and Pacific Symphonies, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and the Los Angeles Opera and Opera Pacific orchestras. His compositions and arrangements include works for solo tuba, brass quintet, and other brass and woodwind chamber music.
More about Jim and his recordings can be found here:
Basset Hound Music:
