What if...
Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2026 1:09 pm
...tuba players held MUSIC competitions, rather than "tuba solo works" competitions?
Most seem to prefer to play tuba solo literature on F tubas (at least, at universities and conservatories). There aren't that many instruments whereby the range and the technical challenges are really close to that of the tuba, but the oboe is just about perfect:
- range from a low B-flat up to a high F or perhaps G.
- challenging technique involved, but not quite as much as with violin or flute
- pleasant and artistic music (without being pompous, stereotypical or trite, though remarkably emotional) has been composed over the various classical music eras for the solo oboe.
Few of the solo oboe piano accompaniments require more technical skill then does the solo instrument (as with some of the oft-listed solo works for tuba).
Quite a few of us (and I've been completely guilty of it in the past) are really into some of the terse, pomposo, and blatty/squeaky "because I can" tuba solo literature, but we need to look ourselves in the mirror and realize that - just as with cigarettes, American beer, and even heroin, people can become accustomed to (and even strongly attracted to) things which would typically annoy, bother, or even completely irritate (or turn potential fans away from the tuba completely) sound compositions which actually (though - after the first few dozen audits - immunity from logical musical taste begins to kick in) bring forth a negative effect. Moreover, we should realize that - as we become more and more familiar with annoying groups of sounds, that (again) those ordered groups of sounds can become just like those substance's abuses analogized above.
Of course there are more pieces other than the oboe literature which would fit the solo tuba range, and of course not all solo works written for the tuba are as described above, but far too many of them are.
Solo works transcribed for tuba (composed by truly gifted composers) do not need to be tonal to be absolutely listenable. As one example, explore (not known for where he taught composition, but for his actual compositions) Poulenc's sonata for oboe - written towards the end of his own life - whereby the entire sonata is an elegy and a tribute to his longtime friend, Prokofiev, who had just passed away.
Now, imagine it played on a tuba. (As simple as the scherzo movement looks on paper, I wonder how many tuba players could actually play it very well and completely up to tempo.)
Years ago, at one of these random "artists" tuba recitals, I played two works on that recital. One being the Walter Hartley tuba sonata (which I played on contrabass tuba). It's a 12 tone composition, but with completely recognizable motifs and a generous amount of tonality, as - after all - harmony is an undeniable feature of pitched music.
The other was Legende Pastorale (Godard - French composer), which I played on the F tuba. The big shot artists in the audience both came around and told me how much they enjoyed hearing both of those. The Hartley seems to be seldom played, and (as to the second one) it seemed as though they found it refreshing to hear a tonal piece (in A major, no less) played at a tuba recital.
(Specifically, Dan Perantoni liked that I played the Hartley, and Jason Ham liked that I played The Godard.)
brilliant sarcasm:
Here's the best performance of the Poulenc (oboe) sonata I've ever heard: (actually has brought me to tears, and not much does that these days)
If you're curious, here's the Godard oboe piece I played:
(Parenthetically, this is performed by Joe Robinson, the retired principal oboist of the New York Philharmonic. He holds no music degrees, just fwiw.)
Most seem to prefer to play tuba solo literature on F tubas (at least, at universities and conservatories). There aren't that many instruments whereby the range and the technical challenges are really close to that of the tuba, but the oboe is just about perfect:
- range from a low B-flat up to a high F or perhaps G.
- challenging technique involved, but not quite as much as with violin or flute
- pleasant and artistic music (without being pompous, stereotypical or trite, though remarkably emotional) has been composed over the various classical music eras for the solo oboe.
Few of the solo oboe piano accompaniments require more technical skill then does the solo instrument (as with some of the oft-listed solo works for tuba).
Quite a few of us (and I've been completely guilty of it in the past) are really into some of the terse, pomposo, and blatty/squeaky "because I can" tuba solo literature, but we need to look ourselves in the mirror and realize that - just as with cigarettes, American beer, and even heroin, people can become accustomed to (and even strongly attracted to) things which would typically annoy, bother, or even completely irritate (or turn potential fans away from the tuba completely) sound compositions which actually (though - after the first few dozen audits - immunity from logical musical taste begins to kick in) bring forth a negative effect. Moreover, we should realize that - as we become more and more familiar with annoying groups of sounds, that (again) those ordered groups of sounds can become just like those substance's abuses analogized above.
Of course there are more pieces other than the oboe literature which would fit the solo tuba range, and of course not all solo works written for the tuba are as described above, but far too many of them are.
Solo works transcribed for tuba (composed by truly gifted composers) do not need to be tonal to be absolutely listenable. As one example, explore (not known for where he taught composition, but for his actual compositions) Poulenc's sonata for oboe - written towards the end of his own life - whereby the entire sonata is an elegy and a tribute to his longtime friend, Prokofiev, who had just passed away.
Now, imagine it played on a tuba. (As simple as the scherzo movement looks on paper, I wonder how many tuba players could actually play it very well and completely up to tempo.)
Years ago, at one of these random "artists" tuba recitals, I played two works on that recital. One being the Walter Hartley tuba sonata (which I played on contrabass tuba). It's a 12 tone composition, but with completely recognizable motifs and a generous amount of tonality, as - after all - harmony is an undeniable feature of pitched music.
The other was Legende Pastorale (Godard - French composer), which I played on the F tuba. The big shot artists in the audience both came around and told me how much they enjoyed hearing both of those. The Hartley seems to be seldom played, and (as to the second one) it seemed as though they found it refreshing to hear a tonal piece (in A major, no less) played at a tuba recital.
(Specifically, Dan Perantoni liked that I played the Hartley, and Jason Ham liked that I played The Godard.)
brilliant sarcasm:
Here's the best performance of the Poulenc (oboe) sonata I've ever heard: (actually has brought me to tears, and not much does that these days)
If you're curious, here's the Godard oboe piece I played:
(Parenthetically, this is performed by Joe Robinson, the retired principal oboist of the New York Philharmonic. He holds no music degrees, just fwiw.)