Tuba Sonata for tuba and piano (2008) by Anthony Plog sets the stage for this program. This piece presents the different colors and characters of the tuba. Movement I presents three different themes; the first has a lyrical, transcendent quality, the second has characteristics of a fanfare, and the third is short featuring blue notes that add an element of mystery. Movement II features the interesting sound of the muted tuba, a color that is often underutilized. Throughout the movement, the player is challenged by frantic fast runs, which are not idiomatic for the instrument. Movement III reflects the pattern established by the first two movements. It starts off with a transcendent dreamlike melody, goes into a frantic section that resembles a chase or a battle, and then ends where it began. Movement IV requires the performer to be aggressive and articulate. It brings back the third theme of the first movement. In the first movement, this theme was hardly developed, but here it lays the foundation for the entire movement, capitalizing on the blue notes. Similar to the middle of the third movement, the pounding eighth notes in the accompaniment bring about the feeling of a chase. There is a brief relief from this relentless pounding when the opening theme is recapped in the middle, but it quickly resumes and accelerates to the end—the chase is over.

© Jasmine Pigott, 2023

Ordner Seg (It’ll Be Alright) was written by Oystein Baadsvik in 2010. Baadsvik is a prominent tuba soloist and composer known for having a career without teaching or orchestral playing. In his own notes for the piece, Baadsvik writes: “In Trondheim, where I live, the sun is absent during large stretches of the winter. One day in February I was in my kitchen cooking as the sun shone in through the window for the first time that year. Along with the sun a simple, peaceful melody appeared – like a gift, ready to be orchestrated.” To me, this piece reminds me of comfort when things are difficult. While the times may be tough now, it’ll be alright soon enough.

© Jasmine Pigott, 2023

I composed Gateways for tuba and spoken word in the spring of 2022. This piece tells the story of the many difficulties those with marginalized identities face when trying to make it in certain fields. However, although things may be more difficult for us, many people have taken it upon themselves to create their own spaces. This piece was written to honor the Chromatic Brass Collective, an organization devoted to empowering women and non-binary people of color in the brass world. It was premiered in May 2022 at the International Women’s Brass Conference.

© Jasmine Pigott, 2023

Spirituals of H.T. Burleigh (2023) is a set of spirituals I arranged for tuba and piano originally by Harry T. Burleigh. Burleigh was a prominent Black composer in the early 1900s who composed over a hundred pieces and arranged many spirituals. African American spirituals are songs that were sung by slaves in the age of slavery. These songs served both to communicate secret messages and to discuss hardships and a future of freedom (either literally or figuratively through death). In adapting the spirituals for the tuba, I had to take into account how to convey the message behind the lyrics without words as well as maintain interest. This occurred primarily through manipulating  octaves.

“Deep River” talks about crossing the river to “promised land” which refers to the north where they could attain freedom or finding refuge in heaven through death. Burleigh’s arrangement opens with rolled piano chords that resemble a rippling river.

“Nobody Knows De Trouble I’ve Seen” follows a speaker lamenting the trials and tribulations they have gone through. This lament also reminds us that everyone’s experience with trials is truly personal, and while many people may have experienced similar things, there is no one who has experienced them in the same exact way.

While many spirituals have anonymous writers, “Steal Away” is known to be originally written by a freed slave named Wallace Willis. To “steal away” is to leave quickly and quietly without being noticed. It also has a coded meaning. The speaker says that they want to “steal away to Jesus” which implies death. The refrain that repeats at the end of each verse and closes the song is, “I ain’t got long to stay here” which further implies that their life will be relatively short lived and they will be “home” soon. When thinking about the coded meaning, “Steal Away” can be interpreted to talk about running away to the north without a trace. It was believed that it was safer to leave during storms when it would have been harder to be noticed, hence the lyrics “He [my lord] calls me by the thunder.”

“Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child” is one of the most sorrowful spirituals. In addition to crying out about feeling like a “motherless child,” the speaker repeats that they are “a long way from home” and feel like they are “almost gone.” As many slaves were traded away from their families, this was most likely a common feeling among them. Burleigh’s arrangement accents the height of those emotions through minor harmonies and rich accompaniment lines.

“Ain’t Goin’ to Study War No Mo’” is sometimes known as “Down by the Riverside,” referencing another one of the repeated lyrics. This spiritual is full of biblical imagery and has been used as a peace song from these messages. Burleigh’s arrangement is more upbeat than most of his other spirituals and features a ragtime feel with a prominent bassline and jazz-like harmonies.

© Jasmine Pigott, 2023

Alice Gomez’s Latin Jazz Suite (2003) was originally written for trumpet and congas but was rearranged for tuba and congas. This piece has five movements, each featuring a different style of Cuban music or dance.

The first movement features the Guaguanaco, a Cuban style of the rumba created by former West and Central African slaves in the middle 1800s. This dance is characterized by a flirtatious, sexual game when the male in a heterosexual couple dances around the female in attempts to catch her with a pelvic thrust move, known as the vacunao. In this movement, you can hear the influence of the West African drumming with a homorhythmic “call” between the tuba and congas.

The second movement is based on the bolero, a Cuban song style from the late 1800s characterized by sophisticated romantic lyrics. This movement is marked “seductively” and features little expressive markings, so it is up to the performer to present the love song in the music.

The next styles featured in the third movement, Mambo-cha, are the mambo and cha-cha. These are both popular dances in Cuba. The mambo found its popularity in the 1930s and 1940s but was replaced by its slower derivative, the cha-cha in the 1950s. This movement is fast paced with a strong pulse to facilitate dancing. There is a notable slow down when it switches from the mambo to the cha-cha.

The fourth movement, Afro-Cuban is based on what is considered the earliest form of Latin Jazz. Afro-Cuban jazz combines clave-rhythms with jazz harmonies and some improvisation. This movement opens with a long tuba cadenza, playing on the improvisation typical in the style.

The fifth movement, Cubop, is based on the jazz style of the same name. It is characterized by Afro-Cuban rhythms fused with the bebop jazz style’s harmony and improvisation. This movement also features a mambo section after the introduction and serves as a very energetic closer to the piece.

© Jasmine Pigott, 2023

The final piece on this program, A Rapturous Parade (2005), by Michael Nickens combines tuba, drum set, and vocals to create a truly memorable work. While some of the accompaniment is notated, there is quite a bit that is improvised which presents a challenge for most classically trained musicians. When I asked Nickens for information on this piece, he wrote:

In the summer of 2005, Velvet Brown suggested I compose a piece for tuba and drums. Inspired by jazz musicians perpetuating the traditions found in New Orleans, I wanted to create a work that evoked the sounds and feel of a funeral procession. The finished product, “A Mournful Procession and A Rapturous Parade”, had its world premiere in Ann Arbor, Michigan that October. This compositional journey started as a self-imposed creative challenge, and a desire to engage a fascinating and joyful performance style. However, my process took an unexpected turn when tragedy struck.

My perspective changed following the horrific destruction and upheaval caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. I felt called upon to comment as a witness, and hopefully as a messenger in some small way. The piece I had been writing revealed its destiny, becoming an elegy for New Orleans: The city, the culture, and most importantly, the people. The first movement (“A Mournful Procession”) is a dirge expressing the unrelenting and unbearable heaviness of profound loss, transforming the performers into pallbearers. The second movement (“A Rapturous Parade”) is a second line reminding us to bring ourselves, and each other, past despair and back to joy and hope, while recognizing that we must adapt as life changes around us.

© Jasmine Pigott, 2023