Echoes

(1989), for tuba quartet. 5 minutes.
Winner of the Wisconsin Tuba Quartet Composition Contest, 1989.

Echoes was inspired by the image of large horns signalling to each other across great distances, and so the tubists are asked to perform the piece while spread out as far as the performance space (and the requirements of ensemble playing!) will allow. The piece includes some “typical” loud and deep tuba parts, but also requires a great deal of soft and agile playing. The opening and closing sections use two players for each note, one to begin the note with a short burst, the other to echo the first by sustaining the pitch quietly. These sustained notes accumulate into a cloud of gradually shifting harmonies. The middle of the piece juxtaposes the sustained notes of the opening against a more active rhythmic background of gradually increasing speed.

[score] PDF score (87 KB).

[score] PDF parts (98 KB).