(1) Miniature Overture
from The Nutcracker P.I. Tchaikowsky arr. Roger Harvey
(2) Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
from The Nutcracker P.I. Tchaikowsky arr. John Fletcher
(3) The Liberation of Sisyphus John Stevens
(4) Chorale from St John Passion J.S. Bach arr. Oren Marshall
(5) Mine’s a Large One Richard Bissill
(6) Caravan Juan Tizol arr. Oren Marshall
(7,8,9,10,11,12) Adverbial Variations on Nellie the Elephant
Tim Jackson (original tune by Peter Hart)
(13) Adlestrop Simon Wills
(14,15,16) Blue Richard Edwards
(17) Sweet and Low Barnby arr. John Fletcher
(18) I’ve Fallen in Love with my Tuba David Powell
(19) Swing Low, Sweet Chariot Trad. Arr. Eric Crees
(20) Grand Galop (Can-Can) from Orpheus in the Underworld
J. Offenbach arr. John Fletcher
(21) Evening Hymn from Hãnsel und Gretel E. Humperdinck
arr. Richard Payne
TOTAL PLAYING TIME 68:53
THE PROJECT
The idea of gathering together the leading tuba players in London to make this recording surfaced about 2 years ago; it was originally suggested as a fund-raising exercise for the JFTF but was mainly motivated by the desire to pay tribute to a dear friend and colleague.
Our memories of Fletch, his reputation and legacy are still very much alive and inspiring. All the contributors agreed without hesitation that they wanted to be part of this tribute to him and to his continuing influence which remains so strong even long after his untimely death.
Anyone who has experienced the aural effect of sustained exposure to massed tubas will no doubt agree that our decision that the repertoire should be a mixture of solo items, and pieces for small and large ensemble in order to get as wide a variety of sounds and textures as possible was a wise one. A number of highly skilled composer-friends were asked to contribute to the repertoire for the recording. We hope that as well as providing some interesting new material for the recording they have also added valuable works to the tuba ensemble genre.
Most of the ensemble music was recorded, on two extraordinarily special days, in December 2003, at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where Fletch used to teach. The solo items were all recorded separately elsewhere.
The services of all the players, composers, arrangers, recording engineers and producers and venues were given free of charge on the strength of John’s memory. The Trust is enormously grateful to all of them for this.
To purchase the CD through the internet, please use this button:
