Scherzo for Tuba and Piano, Op. 77 - František Domažlický
František Domažlický’s contribution to 20th-century tuba literature consists of four compositions. After his Concerto for tuba and strings, op. 53 (1983), Duet for two contrabass tubas, op. 53a (1983) and Sonatina for tuba and piano (1991), he composed his last piece for tuba, Scherzo per Tuba ed pianoforte, op. 77 in 1992.
With a duration of slightly less than five minutes, this chamber work retains the typical features of a scherzo movement, i.e. mainly a swift pace and lively rhythm. As a piece appropriate for encores, it enables the soloist to prove the potential of the instrument both in terms of instrumental technique and tone quality. The piano part makes use of harmonic as well as rhythmical features of jazz-like character, and, as for melody, the piano is an equally important complement of the solo voice. Two contrasting parts set up the formal setting of the composition: differences between the two sections lie in their overall expression, their articulation as well as in the tempo and metre. An explicitly rhythmical theme that starts in a chromatically descending melody is smoothly followed by a legato cantabile melodic line with very specific dynamic marks. Throughout the piece, both these themes keep recurring sundry variations; their general expression, however, remains essentially unchanged.
Other compositions by František Domažlický published in Czech Radio:
Concertino per cornamusa in Es ed orchestra, Op. 76
Concerto for Tuba and Strings, Op. 53
Concerto for Tuba and Strings, Op. 53 / piano score
Czech Songs for Three Female Voices, or Female or Children's Choir, and String Quartet, Op. 17
Sonata per trombone e pianoforte, Op. 58
Sonatina for Tuba and Piano
instrumentationtb, pftedescriptionscore, partpubl.No.R 240price145,- CZK