Goodman Tuba Concerto; Justin Chervony, tuba

Justin Chervony, tuba and Nick Weiser, piano. Live at Ithaca College, December 6, 2014. Todd Goodman's Tuba Concerto was commissioned by the Tuba Repertoire Initiative (www.TubaInitiative.org) and was premiered by Aaron Tindall (www.AaronTindall.com) and JooYeon Chang in the Brucknerhaus at the 2012 International Tuba Euphonium Conference in Linz, Austria. Goodman's Tuba Concerto was one of three finalists for the 2012 Harvey Phillips Award for Excellence in Composition. MOVEMENT ONE begins with a wave-like pulse in the piano that flows throughout the entire movement, being accented and even interrupted by the lush sweeping lines of the tuba. As the movement develops, the two voices become more intertwined and even clash through character and harmony to the first climax. The pulse is then completely interrupted, as if leaping from the page and followed by a brief pause. The pulse regains its momentum, however with much shorter articulations. A fleeting glimpse at a foreshadowing of the second movement then quickly returning to the opening gesture triumphantly closing the movement. The second movement is played with very little pause from the first. MOVEMENT TWO is a lyric aria sung by the tuba, accompanied by a simple shifting chord progression in the piano. From the opening moment, this movement is a celebration of the beauty of simplicity. Rooted around a pedal A in the bass, the movement explores the upward motion of two sets of parallel sixths around a constantly varied three note theme in the tuba. Set in a simple A-BA form, the opening steps aside as a more rhythmic, yet floating variation of the opening material winds throughout the piece. A short recapitulation ends the movement.