Description
An ensemble as homogeneous as a tuba-euphonium quartet may seem a bizarre choice for an exploration of different musical textures… These three short miniatures (all based upon the same twelve-tone row) demonstrate very different moods by exploiting the wide variety of sonic worlds that are possible with this ensemble. A bell sequence opens the set, overlapping peals emerging and interrupting each other before gradually fading back into the distance. A contrapuntal scherzo begins the next bagatelle; however, a cantus firmus soon negates any long-term rhythmical development. A new world entirely is signaled by the mysterious heterophonic elegy that forms the final movements, a series of timbral effects and extended techniques disguising an otherwise simple theme and variations structure. Certainly a work for the more adventurous ensemble, this piece presents a real test of musicality, technique, but above all, musical imagination.
-Jack Adler-McKean
Solo Parts Included: Euphoniums 1-2 (BC or TC), Tubas 1-2
