Ralph Vaughan Williams ‒ Concerto for Bass Tuba

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), Tuba Concerto (1954) for tuba and orchestra

James Gourlay tuba, The Royal Ballet Sinfonia orchestra cond. Gavin Sutherland

00:00 - No. 1 Prelude: Allegro moderato
04:42 - No. 2 Romanza: Andante sostenuto
09:40 - No. 3 Finale - Rondo alla tedesca: Allegro

Vaughan Williams’s Tuba Concerto is as near aclassic in the field as it is possible to be, given the limited extent of that field. It was first performed in June 1954 by Philip Catalinet and the London Symphony Orchestra, and is just one more work of originality and freshness that belies the 82-year-old composer’s advanced years. The concerto is dedicated to the entire orchestra on the occasion of their jubilee, and in form resembles something more akin to Bach than Mozart or Beethoven. In the words of the composer, ‘there are elaborate cadenzas in the outer movements which enclose a central movement of exceptional lyricism and tenderness’. Overall, Vaughan Williams thought the music ‘fairly simple and obvious and can be listened to without much previous explanation’. None the worse for that.

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