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Concerto in F minor for Tuba and Winds
Ralph Vaughan Williams (arr. Robert Hare)
General Info
Year: 1954 / 1992
Duration: c. 14:00
Difficulty: VI / V(see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Cost: Score and Parts - Rental
Movements
1. Prelude
2. Romanza
3. Finale
Instrumentation
Full Score
Solo Tuba
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III-IV-V
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F I-II
Trombone I-II
Bass Trombone
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion, including:
- Bass Drum
- Crash Cymbals
- Snare Drum
- Triangle
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Vaughan Williams composed his Concerto for Tuba for the golden jubilee of the London Symphony Orchestra in 1954 with the orchestra's own tuba player, Philip Catelinet, as the soloist. While the three-movement piece is relatively short, it still demonstrates Vaughan Williams' own harmonic and rhythmic style.
Initial reviews of the premiere were mixed. Some called the work an "elephantine romp" and remarked that it was "humorous and salty." History has shown this first reaction was far too superficial. The technical difficulties of writing an effective concerto for an instrument whose compass lies even lower than that of the cello or the bassoon proved to be a stimulating challenge, and Vaughan Williams took great pains to discover the tuba's capabilities.
The concerto's first and final movements highlight the tuba's playful and deceptively agile capacity. With its solid melody surrounded by shimmering, playfully dancing strings, early critics insisted that the final movement was an instrumental representation of Falstaff and the Fairies. For the middle of the concerto, the composer fashioned a Romanza movement that is breathtakingly fresh and poignant, dramatizing the instrument's lyrical potential in the hands of a masterful player.
- Program Note from Appalachian Wind Ensemble concert program, 20 February 2016
Media
(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Golden Gate Park Band (San Francisco, Calif.) (German Gonzales, conductor; Jonathon Seiberlich, tuba) - 7 August 2022
- Lakeshore Wind Ensemble (Manitowoc, Wisc.) (Marc Sackman, conductor; Marty Erickson, tuba) – 19 October 2019
- Atlanta (Ga.) Youth Wind Symphony (Scott A. Stewart, conductor; Brian Fecht, bass trombone) - 7 October 2019
- Southeastern Louisiana University (Hammond) Wind Symphony (Derek Stoughton, conductor; Charles Goodman, tuba) - 9 November 2017
- Appalachian State University (Boone, N.C.) Wind Ensemble (John Stanley Ross, conductor; Bethany Wiese, tuba) – 20 February 2016
Works for Winds by This Composer
Adaptable Music
- Folk Songs from Somerset (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Huckeby) (1924/2020)
- My Bonny Boy (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Huckeby) (1924/2020)
- Seventeen Come Sunday (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Huckeby) (1924/2020)
All Wind Works
- Concerto for Bass Tuba (arr. Wick and Chambers) (1954/1992)
- Concerto Grosso (arr. Grechesky) (1924)
- Concerto in F minor for Tuba and Winds (arr. Hare) (1954/1992)
- England's Pleasant Land (arr. Noble) (1938/2017)
- English Folk Song Suite. See: Folk Song Suite
- English Folk Song Suite (arr. Villanueva) (1924/)
- Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (arr. Bocook) (1910/2006)
- Fantasia on Greensleeves (arr. Wagner) (1934/2011)
- Five English Folk Songs (arr. Feldman) (1913/2009)
- Five Variants of "Dives and Lazarus" (arr. Gregson) (1939/2004)
- Flourish for Glorious John (or. Boyd) (1957/1998)
- Flourish for Wind Band (1939)
- Folk Song Suite (1924/2008)
- Folk Songs from Somerset (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Huckeby) (1924/2020)
- Golden Vanity, The (arr. Wagner) (1933/2009)
- I Vow to Thee, My Country (as setter; ed. Grechesky) (1921/1988)
- Lark Ascending, The (tr. Silvester) (1914/1925/2003)
- Linden Lea (arr. Wagner) (1902/2013)
- Linden Lea (arr. Stout) (1902/1984)
- The Lowlands of Scotland (arr. Daehn) (1912/2006)
- March Past of the Kitchen Utensils (arr. Erwin) (1909/2010)
- My Bonny Boy (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Huckeby) (1924/2020)
- Norfolk Rhapsody (tr. Robert O'Brien) (1905)
- Norfolk Rhapsody No. 2 in D minor (tr. O'Toole) (1906/2014?)
- Overture to "The Wasps" (tr. Frank Hudson) (1909)
- Prelude, 49th Parallel (arr. van der Beek) (1960/2018)
- Prelude: 49th Parallel (arr. Noble) (1941/2014)
- Prelude: 49th Parallel (arr. Winkler) (1941/1960)
- Prelude from "49th Parallel" (tr. Osmon) (1941/1960/1987/2002)
- Prelude on Three Welsh Hymn Tunes (arr. Curnow) (1954/1982)
- Prelude: The New Commonwealth (arr. Grauer) (1940/2006)
- A Ralph Vaughan Williams Portrait (arr. Wagner) (2018)
- Rhosymedre (tr. Beeler) (1920/1972)
- Rhosymedre (tr. Johnston) (1920/2011)
- Rhosymedre (tr. Baldwin) (1920/)
- The Running Set (arr. Daehn) (1933/2007)
- Running Set, The (tr. Silvester) (1933)
- Scherzo alla Marcia (1956)
- Sea Songs (1925)
- Sea Songs (arr. Longfield) (1925/2006)
- Seventeen Come Sunday (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Huckeby) (1924/2020)
- Sine Nomine (arr. Cacavas) (1906/1998)
- Sine Nomine (arr. Houseknecht) (1906/1960)
- Sine Nomine (arr. Reed) (1906/1976)
- Songs of Travel (arr. Patterson) (1901-4)
- Three Dorset Songs (arr. Stotter) (1902-1903/2003)
- Three Studies in English Folk Song (arr. Harbinson) (1927/1999/2003)
- Toccata Marziale (1924)
- Toccata Marziale (ed. Battisti) (1924/2005)
- Variations for Wind Band (trans. Hunsberger) (1957/1988/1997)
- Vaughan Williams Christmas, A (arr. Wagner) (1999)
- Wassail (arr. Smith)
Resources
- Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music. "Ralph Vaughan Williams." Accessed 8 March 2016.
- Tuba Concerto (Vaughan Williams), Wikipedia Accessed 8 March 2016