Piece for solo tuba and concert band

[Lew]

The director of the community band in which I play here in Ohio has asked me to play a solo piece with the band next Summer. This is a band that only does 3 concerts each Summer and has 3 rehearsals for each concert. He therefore wants a suggestion of a piece that would be able to be prepared by an amateur band in three rehearsals, but would be interesting for a typical community band Summer audience. I am looking for suggestions of an arrangement that would be available that would fit these criteria. Thanks in advance.

[sousaphone68]

I would recommend Bass in the ballroom by roy Newsome as a good fit for your 3 rehearsals it is a nice tango followed by a waltz with a nice little cadenza towards the end. It is a very easy band piece with some nice challenges for the soloist quite alot of work around the top of the stave and middle C ends with a sustained Eb above middle C.
Very enjoyable and the end of the cadenza is usually used for some interplay between the soloist and the conductor lots of examples on Youtube.

[TexTuba]

Beelzebub

Oldie, but goodie!

[1895King]

Solo Pomposo or Beelzebub

[Lew]

I played Beelzebub with a community band in Florida in the 90s, and was considering it, but is it still in print? I'm not sure how accessible it would be to typical American audiences.

[Kevin Hendrick]

I played Beelzebub with a community band in Florida in the 90s, and was considering it, but is it still in print? I'm not sure how accessible it would be to typical American audiences.

Looks like Chatfield have it:

http://chatfieldband.lib.mn.us/

They also have a nice Harold Walters piece called Scherzo Pomposo you might want to look at -- played it with the Marshall Community Band last week. We had two rehearsals before the concert, and it went well. Range is reasonable, not overly technical, mostly bounces along nicely (one lyrical section) -- fun piece to play. The audience seemed to like it, too (nothing wrong with that!).

[tubaforce]

Hi!
Consider " A Touch Of Tuba" by Art Dietrict (spelling?)! The accompaniment is fairly easy, and the solo was well received when I performed it years ago with a Community Band!

Al

[JHardisk]

I've had the great fortune to play almost 75 times as a soloist with band. My go-to standards are:

"Variations on Barnacle Bill, the Sailor". Audiences LOVE this piece, and it's a gas to play. Tons of opportunity to have some fun, and it's not as hard as it sounds! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcgB2ifkBxY

"Dance Rhapsody for solo Tuba and Band"- Aldo Forte. This is another wonderful piece of music! It's a 3 movement, segue piece, that's quite fun, and very accessible for audiences. A bunch of mixed meter, and it'd take some effort by the band to accomplish. A very good band could tackle it in 3 rehearsals. Also, not as hard as it sounds! MP3 is here... Andy Rummel (who it was written for) nails it!
http://www.heritageofamericaband.af.mil ... dances.asp

Or, the Gregson concerto works well, but is quite long. Not tremendously difficult band parts, and not my first choice of pieces.

Best of luck in selecting a work! It's so much fun to get out of the back row, and out front!

[Ben]

The Phillip Sparke Concert is also very nice, I played this with a community band in NYC, and it was quite enjoyable. It may be on the challenging side of your ensemble requirement, although if your community band is a strong one, it should be OK.

Sounds like fun!

[chrisginstl]

"Variations on Barnacle Bill, the Sailor". Audiences LOVE this piece, and it's a gas to play. Tons of opportunity to have some fun, and it's not as hard as it sounds! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcgB2ifkBxY

Wow, nice job! That instant range from high to low is something I struggle with, but you made it sound easy. Really enjoyed this recording. Thanks for sharing.