Thom Ritter GeorgeCONCERTINO FOR TUBA, CN 320 (1984)
PROGRAM NOTES
Thom Ritter George's CONCERTINO FOR TUBA was the result of an unusual conducting experience in Spring 1984. The composer was conducting a "Concerto Night" orchestra concert on which a tuba player was a featured soloist. The young player chose a solo for tuba and string orchestra. When the work went into rehearsal, it became obvious that the solo tuba part was well written and effective. It also became obvious that the string writing was highly unidiomatic, and despite extensive rehearsal, the string orchestra music never sounded convincing, even in the concert.
The event prompted Dr. George to think about creating an original composition for tuba and string orchestra. Strings have the capability of forming an excellent accompanying medium for solo tuba. The character of the tuba tone is well delineated from that of the string choir. Since Dr. George is both a conductor and a string player, it would certainly be possible to invent music which would be idiomatic for strings.
Thinking back to his CONCERTO FOR FLUTE (1966), the composer also decided to create the music so that it could be accompanied by piano and wind ensemble. Like the earlier CONCERTO FOR FLUTE, the music would be "original" in all three versions. The advantage of planning three different accompaniments is that none would be transcriptions of another version. All could be made idiomatic for their respective media. Therefore, the CONCERTINO FOR TUBA was in fact written with three, original accompaniments: piano, string orchestra, and wind ensemble. During the sketching stage, this objective was constantly kept in mind.
Concertino form seemed best for the work. A concertino is nothing more than a "little concerto," little in the sense that it is brief in duration. The normal fast-slow-fast movement pattern found in many concertos was followed.
The first movement ("Allegro ma non troppo") is cast in a highly abbreviated sonata-allegro form. All the customary sections of sonata-allegro form were compressed into the 77 measures of the first movement: Exposition (Theme I and Theme II), Development, Recapitulation (Theme I and Theme II), and Coda! The tuba shows its lyric nature in the music of Theme II; elsewhere, the tuba writing is more animated, often employing leaps and lip slurs. The movement ends quietly, paving the way for the following movements of the CONCERTINO.
The second movement ("Cantabile e simplice") is written in three-part song form. The "A" sections are lyric, asking the player to display good phrasing and musicality. The "B" section introduces an ostinato in the accompaniment which complements the solo tuba's descent from the upper to the lower part of the bass staff. The movement ends quietly on low B-flat with sustained chords in the accompaniment.
The final movement ("Vivace") again employs sonata-allegro form. Since the development is exclusively concerned with material derived from Theme I, it seemed best to recapitulate the themes in reverse order. This allowed the recapitulated first theme to appear near the end and lead smoothly to the Coda. The music is in a spirited 6/8 meter. The notes which comprise the principal theme are the same as those used in the principal theme of the first movement: repeated Fs, E-flat, C, F. Also like the first movement is the use of leaps and lip slurs for the solo tuba. The third movement travels through a wide range of keys, many more than are found in earlier movements. This creates a harmonic excitement which complements the fast tempo and rhythmic drive of the finale.
The CONCERTINO FOR TUBA has been widely played, both nationally and internationally, since its composition.
(TRGcm:1989.04.13; Revised 1997.11.23)