Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date

2019

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Musical Arts

Department

Music

Committee Chair

Kevin Sanders

Committee Member

Dan Phillips

Committee Member

Jeff Cline

Committee Member

Lenny Schranze

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe solo tuba repertoire of the 1960s and early 1970s was largely underdeveloped, and those pieces that had been written followed the typical conventions in composing works for more popular solo instruments. Few composers from this period viewed the tuba as a solo instrument with unique offerings available to the composer, and even fewer composers had written solo works for the tuba with the intention of highlighting its distinctive qualities. Robert Jagers Concerto for Bass Tuba is a focused composition of a unique, through-composed, innovative piece in the largely unmapped realm of significant tuba repertoire in the 1970s, paving the way for composers and professional tubists growth decades beyond the Concertos inception. Robert Jagers Concerto for Bass Tuba was commissioned by the University of IllinoisBand under the direction of Harry Begian, for Daniel Perantoni, the Professor of Low Brass at the University. Perantoni premiered the piece at the University of Illinois in 1978. Prior to 1978, there were very few serious pieces written for the solo tuba. Those serious works most frequently performed were the Ralph Vaughan Williams Concerto for Bass Tuba and Orchestra, composed in 1954, and Paul Hindemiths Sonata for Tuba and Piano, composed in 1955. This study serves to further understand the genesis of Jagers Concerto for Bass Tuba, Jagers compositional process when composing his Concerto, his unique compositional style, and the influence this piece had on later solo works for the tuba. Robert Jagers Concerto for Bass Tuba was significantly more difficult for the advanced tubist of the 1970s than the advanced tubist of today. Jagers Concerto strove to push what was possible to perform on the tuba, and helped to elevate the tuba idiom via its technically demanding sections, as well as its long, sweeping melodies which challenged the players ability to perform one phrase in a single breath. As a result of the natural advancement of both the solo tuba repertoire and the proficiency of todays tubists, Jagers Concerto is now accessible to an advanced undergraduate or typical graduate student.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest

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