Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Work Overview

Concertino was commissioned by Sérgio Carolino (Principal tuba, Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto, Portugal) for premiere with the Banda Sinfónica Portuguesa, under the artistic direction of Francisco Ferreira. Sérgio Carolino is an extremely diverse and inquisitive performer, with forays into jazz, funk and duets with a DJ to his credit. To take advantage of this, one of the aims of Concertino is to give this unique performer an opportunity to showcase a varied palette of skills within a symphonic band setting. Andrew Batterham has often assimilated several different musical languages into his work, and so the journey from traditional wind band music, through funk and jazz improvisation, to dance modern styles was an exciting one.

The piece is divided into two halves. The first is couched in a Classical, common-chord musical language, developing traditional material in a slow, soulful way. The second half develops the same material, but utilising beat-oriented styles such as funk and techno, resulting in a varied musical canvas upon which the soloist can express themselves in spectacular fashion.

Work Details

Year: 2014

Instrumentation: Solo tuba, piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, bassoon, clarinet in E flat, 3 clarinets in B flat, bass clarinet in B flat, 2 alto saxophones, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, 4 horns in F, 4 trumpets in B flat, 2 trombones, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, percussion (3 players), string bass.

Duration: 12 min.

Difficulty: Advanced — Solo tuba part includes funk improvisation

Dedication note: for Sergio Carolino

Commission note: Commissioned by Sergio Carolino, principal tuba with Porto Symphony Orchestra, Portugal

First performance: by Banda Sinfonica Portuguesa, Sergio Carolino, Francisco Ferreira — 23 Jun 15. Casa Da Musica

The composer notes the following styles, genres, influences, etc associated with this work:
Funk, minimalism