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What are some of the most challenging tuba solos written? Post recording if available

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lLTckqIMbM8" target="_blank

That would be my vote, look in the comments, the music is there, that range is extreme...

It depends on what is defined as "difficult." Certainly, there are relatively "easy" solos that are, in reality, exceedingly difficult--at least in my personal experience, one of the most difficult solos out there is "The Swan" by Camille Saint-Saëns. That being said, if we're going for the more-or-less standard definition of "difficult" (demanding on physical, mental, and musical levels), then there are a few that come to mind. One of the most difficult pieces I've seen is Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf's Hommage à Brian Ferneyhough. In a similar vein is Luigi Nono's Post-Prae-Ludium per Donau, although the difficulty of the piece stems more from the notational and mechanical stumbling blocks inherent in the score itself. I've also heard that the score for Mauro Lanza's Burger Time ou les tentations de Saint-Antoine is quite difficult, although I have not been able to secure the work and actually see for myself. As luck would have it, I'm premiering a work next month by my friend Nicholas Deyoe that is one of the more difficult pieces I've seen--I'm outlandishly excited for the work, but also a little bit daunted by its demands!

I would put Theodore Antoniou - Six Likes For Tuba at the top of my list. I don't know if it has ever been recorded but I believe that Mr. Bobo did a live performance of it at one time. I know Ron Bishop had performed selections from it back in the early 70's. Extremely challenging. It was written for a Hungarian tuba virtuoso who I believe has now passed, but I'm not positive. The notes in the last movement are so small that I had to blow it up to 3 feet by 5 feet to be able to see it all clearly. I've worked on it but I've not (yet) performed it in public.

Just my $0.02.

Roger

Now I have utterly insufficient experience to make this judgement, but Bozza's Concertino for Tuba https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnr0pcitWNc" target="_blank" target="_blank looks fantastically challenging... Worth pointing out at least!

Although it does bear huge resemblance to 'New Orleans' it is quite significantly more challenging!

As stated earlier, "difficult" is a subjective term and varies from person-to-person. That being said, in my experience, I found "Concerto del Garda" by Elizabeth Raum to be VERY difficult. I don't have a link. It wasn't on Youtube. It is on John Griffiths' CD "Canadian Chops." Like everything written for Mr. Griffiths, it has a ridiculous range, and even the "slow" movement has a lot of notes. The fast movements have even more notes and are very technically challenging and one has to do some work to find good places to breathe. Love the piece, though. I also think that Daniel Crozier's "Fantasy for Tuba" is very difficult to make music out of. It is on Dan Perantoni's CD "Perantoni Plays Perantoni."

4'33"

bloke wrote:

vd8m9 wrote:What are some of the most challenging tuba solos written? Post recording if available

...as far as "listening to them" is concerned...??

If that is the criteria, then Kraft Encounters II has to be right up there.