Tuba Solo - Level 5 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.1018891

Composed by Benjamin Harry Sajo. 20th Century,Contemporary. Individual part. 2 pages. Benjamin Sajo #6056113. Published by Benjamin Sajo (A0.1018891).

Programme Notes:

 Icarus Also Flew takes its title from the first line of the poem Failing and Flying by Jack Gilbert. He is referring to the classical myth of Daedalus and Icarus, an inventive father and son who bravely escape from their imprisonment in a tower by collecting the disposed feathers of seabirds, then fashion wings out of them and fly away. While the story is often treated as a morality tale--listen to your elders, don’t get cocky like the young man, Icarus, who, in such an understandable state of elation, ascended too close to the sun thus causing the wings to melt and his tumbling to his Mediterranean death--what Jack Gilbert reminds us is how regardless of one’s failure, the sheer transcendental experience of mortal flight remains glorious and unforgettable. Icarus’s fall was not into a legacy of disdain and oblivion, but in truth, he had come to the end of his triumph.

 This piece was the first of a series I composed during the Covid-19 quarantine conditions of 2020, to serve as potential contemporary preludes for each of Ludwig van Beethoven’s nine symphonies--his two hundred and fiftieth anniversary was this year!--though they can all stand on their own on any program. The connection, in this case, is with his celebrated fifth symphony in C minor--the Fate symphony, as it is commonly known. I’ll let the listener find their own connections.

About the Composer:

Benjamin Sajo (b. 1988) is a Canadian composer of contemporary classical music, as well as an educator. Since developing a fiercely independent creative voice upon the completion of his studies at Western (2010) and McGill Universities (2013), he continues to find inspiration from the intersection of mythology, art, and nature upon the contemporary human experience. In 2019, he released his premiere album of original music, The Great War Sextet: Canadian War Poetry with Trombone & Strings, with support from the Ontario Arts Council. He is a member of SOCAN and the League of Canadian Composers.

Tuba Solo - Level 5 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.917229

Composed by Robert Chamberlin. 20th Century,Contemporary. Individual part. 5 pages. Robert Chamberlin #4622313. Published by Robert Chamberlin (A0.917229).

Dr. Gary Bird assembled and edited a volume in 1994 called Program Notes for the Solo Tuba.  In it, he assembled information on what were determined to be the eighty-eight most important works for solo tuba written to that point in time.    Robert Chamberlin’s Elegy (for solo tuba) was very deservedly included in the catalogue of works in that very important assemblage.   

Elegy was composed in 1981 for tubist, Jerry Young, and was written in collaboration with both Young and Daniel Perantoni.    It was composed as a response to the assassination of Anwar Sadat, the Egyptian head-of-state who, along with Israeli Premier Menachem Begin and U.S. President Jimmy Carter, forged the peace agreement between those two countries that endures to this day.  Chamberlin said: It is an expression of my sadness and anger that people resort to that particular type of violence for political gain.    Since its premiere performance by Jerry Young at Webster University in 1981, the work has been performed in many venues by many soloists, and it almost always resonates with and touches very diverse audiences.  The work uses a wide variety of expressive techniques, including multiphonics, pitch bends, half-valve technique, glissandi, whispering through the instrument, and the tuba mute.  Perhaps the most striking and emotionally touching effect is that the entire work is played with the bell of the instrument pointed into the open lid of a grand piano with the sustain pedal depressed.    The harmonic and echo-like acoustic effects created are stunning in every performance and venue.    This is an outstanding musical artwork appropriate for any recital, but also very effective in settings where unexpected or tragic loss are being marked.    It speaks to listeners of all backgrounds in a very pronounced way that few works seem to achieve.    While it is in every sense a virtuoso work, it is one that repeatedly rewards both performer and audience.