What Living Composer Would You Want a Tuba Work From

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russiantuba
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What Living Composer Would You Want a Tuba Work From

Post by russiantuba »

This is not a call for a consortium or a commission, however, it seems like more and more great composers are writing for tuba, and including tuba/cimbasso solos in major film soundtracks. Of the living composers, who do you think would write a great, effective work for tuba that has not composed a solo work for tuba.

My first vote would go to Danny Elfman.
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York-aholic (Tue Jun 29, 2021 8:40 pm)


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Re: What Living Composer Would You Want a Tuba Work From

Post by bort2.0 »

I think John Williams deserves another shot at it.
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Re: What Living Composer Would You Want a Tuba Work From

Post by LargeTuba »

bort2.0 wrote: Tue Jun 29, 2021 9:19 pm I think John Williams deserves another shot at it.
Your not a fan of the John Williams tuba concerto?
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Re: What Living Composer Would You Want a Tuba Work From

Post by windshieldbug »

John Adams has an exceptional understanding of the tuba’s capabilities and has written outstanding parts in the works he’s composed. I’d love to hear his concept of a tuba concerto.
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York-aholic (Tue Jun 29, 2021 11:40 pm)
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Re: What Living Composer Would You Want a Tuba Work From

Post by York-aholic »

windshieldbug wrote: Tue Jun 29, 2021 9:37 pm John Adams has an exceptional understanding of the tuba’s capabilities and has written outstanding parts in the works he’s composed. I’d love to hear his concept of a tuba concerto.
I agree. John Adams gets my vote!
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windshieldbug (Wed Jun 30, 2021 8:53 am)
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Re: What Living Composer Would You Want a Tuba Work From

Post by bloke »

The best solo works have tended to be those whereby their composers ignored the believed/perceived limitations of the instrument, and just wrote music that they thought would sound cool, if played on it.
Last edited by bloke on Fri Jul 09, 2021 9:11 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What Living Composer Would You Want a Tuba Work From

Post by BuddyRogersMusic »

Gordy Haab; he's done great work in the video game world with original material and that inspired by Williams for the Star Wars-related games. Side note, I did my student teaching at Lee Davis HS in Mechanicsville, VA when he was a student there.
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Re: What Living Composer Would You Want a Tuba Work From

Post by edfirth »

I'll second Danny Elfman.Ed
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Re: What Living Composer Would You Want a Tuba Work From

Post by bloke »

Answering the opposite (and given an enhanced/modern - tonal: with key signatures - tonal palette), Chopin was just about the greatest of all time combining memorable/remarkable tunes with memorable/remarkable chord progressions.
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Re: What Living Composer Would You Want a Tuba Work From

Post by hrender »

I only really know film composers, so Zimmer, Newman (Thomas or Randy), or Elfman.

Randy Newman (with Michael Roth) knows brass:
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Re: What Living Composer Would You Want a Tuba Work From

Post by GC »

Michael Giacchino. Topnotch film composer, wide musical vocabulary, master of many styles, writes listenable and easily relatable scores.

The thought of a John Adams or Danny Elfman concerto interest me a lot, too.
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Re: What Living Composer Would You Want a Tuba Work From

Post by russiantuba »

It seems like the general consensus is that of film composers and John Adams. I whole-heartedly agree. I think these folks know how to write without limitations. It would be nice to have more works from them in the repertoire.
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Re: What Living Composer Would You Want a Tuba Work From

Post by York-aholic »

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Re: What Living Composer Would You Want a Tuba Work From

Post by cjk »

Call me old fashioned or whatever, but whoever composes a tuba piece, I'd like to be able to whistle or hum the tune.
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Re: What Living Composer Would You Want a Tuba Work From

Post by Doc »

cjk wrote: Fri Jul 02, 2021 12:55 pm Call me old fashioned or whatever, but whoever composes a tuba piece, I'd like to be able to whistle or hum the tune.
Come on, man... you're not a fan of the likes of Tuba Buffo or Kraft Encounters 2? WTH, bruh? :laugh:
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Re: What Living Composer Would You Want a Tuba Work From

Post by acemorgan »

Decades ago, when I was a new music major, I had a professor who pointed out that Romanticism was the style in which nearly all film scores are written. This was in the early 70s, and I haven't seen a lot of contrary evidence in the last 50 years. That being said, it makes a lot of sense to be leaning toward film composers. When you consider the repertoire of concertos across the instrumental spectrum, a large chunk would be from the Romantic Period. Sheesh, I sound pedantic!

In conclusion: Hans Zimmer. (A few years ago, I probably would have said James Horner. I mean, Braveheart, you know.)
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Re: What Living Composer Would You Want a Tuba Work From

Post by Casca Grossa »

Taylor Swift...she cranks out stuff that people seem like listening to.
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Re: What Living Composer Would You Want a Tuba Work From

Post by Jim Williams »

I missed by 32 years...Bill Evans.
I missed by 25 years...Gerry Mulligan.
I missed by 9 years...Dave Brubeck.
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Re: What Living Composer Would You Want a Tuba Work From

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Re: What Living Composer Would You Want a Tuba Work From

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Mike Oldfield
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