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Are you talking about tuba-specific recordings of excerpts from King Lear or recordings of it in general?

On the IMSLP Page you can find a .PDF score along with links to some recordings. For scholarly articles, I suggest searching JSTOR or a local university library catalog.

Hector Berlioz
(1803-1869)
Overture to King Lear

Premiere
December 22, 1833 at the Paris Conservatoire. Conducted by Narcisse Gerard.

Composer Perspective
• The Overture to King Lear was composed in April and May of 1831 under some fascinating circumstances. Berlioz had arrived in Rome after winning the prestigious Grand Prix de Rome in 1830, but left abruptly to return to Paris in order to assassinate his fiancée and her mother, who had just broken off their engagement. Upon reaching Nice, he had second thoughts about carrying through with the plan, and instead stayed in Nice for a month, during which time he composed the Overture to King Lear. He had read Shakespeare’s King Lear during the journey and had the story fresh in his mind when he began to compose.
• This was Berlioz’ third concert overture, preceded by Judges of the Secret Court (1826), Waverly (1828).
• This work was composed one year following the premiere of Symphonie Fantastique (1830)

Musical Perspective (1831-33)
• Bellini- Norma, La Sonnumbula (1831)
• Donizetti- The Elixir of Love (1832)
• Mendelssohn- Symphony no. 4, “The Italian” (1833)
• Johannes Brahms born (1833)

Historical Perspective (1831)
• Victor Hugo’s Hunchback of Notre Dame published
• London Bridge built over the River Thames
• Numerous uprisings in Italy, which leads Pope Gregory XVI to denounce any form of democracy, enlisting Austria army to squelch all revolutionary movements.
• Nat Turner, a Baptist slave preacher, leads a revolt in Southampton County, Virginia, killing at least 57 whites. Alabama makes it illegal for Blacks to preach.
•
Recommended Recordings
Berlioz Overtures- London Symphony, Sir Colin Davis. (Philips 416 430-2)



Excerpt
Tempo Range
Half note equals 138-152 (144)
Berlioz indicates half-note at 168, which is prohibitively fast, and rarely observed.

Terms
Allegro disperato ed agitato assai- Fast, desperate and very agitated

Context
The material that the tuba plays in this excerpt is actually a fast version of the main King Lear motif that appears at the beginning of the work. It is the first time in the work that this tune is heard in a quick context. To give you an idea of how slow this melody is in the beginning of the work, it takes a little over two minutes to complete the first 32 measures of thematic material. In the fast tempo this excerpt is complete in less than thirty seconds!

The orchestral texture is not too complicated at the beginning of the passage. The tuba’s melody is doubled by low strings and woodwinds, the violins are sawing away on whole note tremolos and the horns, trumpets and trombones interject a two note fanfare that seems to want to interrupt the melodic material. At the 19th measure of rehearsal 21, the violins break into an arpeggiated eighth note figure, which changes the feel and texture considerably.

Partners
Berlioz is known for being a revolutionary orchestrator, and this passage gives a clue as to why. The tuba is doubled at pitch by the basses, doubled at one octave above by the celli, violas and bassoons and doubled at two octaves above by the clarinets and oboes. At the 19th measure of rehearsal 21, the third and fourth horns in the mix to compliment the new color found in the violin accompaniment.

This is an unusual and fascinating sound- one that is under-utilized in my opinion! It is imperative that the tubist not think of his or herself as a brass player on this lick, but rather, a nimble member of the woodwind section.

Opportunities
• This is a great opportunity to demonstrate agility and an understanding of the orchestration.
• This is a good chance to show that you can follow directions, due to the variety of articulations that appear in the passage.
• This is a great opportunity to make a clear distinction between triple and duple division.
• This excerpt is a great chance to show paragraph structure in the phrasing. While it would make sense to look at each eight bar phrase as a sentence, all of the sentences must tie in together to make a coherent musical statement.
• Obviously, this is a great time to wow the committee with your high register.

Challenges
• Rhythmic integrity is very important for this excerpt. Make sure that the quarter note triplets sound even when executing the written slurs. The articulation can really mess with the integrity of these. Be sure that the eighth notes are in time, well articulated and snapped.
• Try to keep the sound light and brilliant. It is possible sometimes for the sound in the high register to become less focused and more “wooey”. Keep the air stream very active so that the sound above the staff has some zip.
• The staccato quarter notes must sound different than the ones with no markings.
• The quarter note triplets two measures before rehearsal 22 frequently lag. Keep them moving!
• Be sure to observe the accents in the fourth and twelfth measures of the excerpt.
• The most sensible place to breathe after rehearsal 22 is after the C# in the fifth measure. Be sure that you are not late after the breath.
• Take the persistent fortissimo with a grain of salt. Playing a true 9/10 fortissimo will only bog this excerpt down. Think agility, not strength.


Practice Room Strategies
• Okay, so the first thing that we notice about this excerpt is that it is high-- in or above the staff the whole time. If this is an area of your playing that you might consider a weakness, it is time to live there for a while in the practice room. Practice Rochut where it’s written, Kopprasch up an octave, more Berlioz excerpts…whatever it takes for you to feel like you are extending your mid-register up to high F.
• Once you feel like you have a pretty good technical grasp of this excerpt, try changing the rhythmic pulse to one beat per measure, as opposed to two. This helps to make this excerpt less clunky and more melodic and directional.
• It might be a good idea to isolate the measure three before rehearsal 22 to make sure that the awkward articulation is learned correctly.
• As with every excerpt, practice this with a metronome to ensure that your quick breaths don’t create any hiccups. Remember, always borrow time from the note that you are leaving, as opposed to the one you are going to.

Good luck!