Hawick Music Club press report following the Travelling by Tuba Performance

on 12th September 2021

In Hawick, the term Pleasant Sunday Afternoon is usually associated with the PSA Choir, but it’s a phrase I would readily apply to last Sunday afternoon’s concert – Travelling by Tuba – hosted by Hawick Music Club.  Sunday’s performers – Stewart Death (piano) and Chris Cranham (tuba) had their audience captivated right from the start with a mix of quality musicianship, playful education and great humour.

The programme introduced us to works by Brahms, Purcell, Telemann, Mozart and Gershwin as well as lesser-known composers Hartmann, Lebedev, Corwell, Kern, Kreisler and Monti.

Starting with Brahms Hungarian Dance played on piano and tuba, Stewart and Chris used the gaps between their published programme to introduce us to, and demonstrate, an amazing array of wind and brass instruments, starting with a conch shell and including instruments the names of some I had never heard.  (My scribbled notes said “Officlyde” – I have since discovered this should be “Ophicleide”!) The Ophicleide was used to play a haunting Pavane by Peter Warlock.

“Suzzaphone” (in my notes) is of course a “sousaphone” – Chris “wore” it - a valved brass instrument with the same tube length and musical range as other tubas. The sousaphone's shape is such that the bell is above the tubist's head and projecting forward. The valves are situated directly in front of the musician slightly above the waist and all of the weight rests on the left shoulder.  Kern’s Ol’ Man River sounded lovely on this instrument.

The Audience were treated to a performance of Mozart’s Rondo from his 4th Tuba Concerto!  Except there is no such thing!  Mozart wrote his Concerto for Horn!  Travelling by Tuba made this piece their own by playing it on the Tuba with piano accompaniment.  The tuba had not been invented in Mozart’s time!

Not many pieces have been written for Tuba and piano, so it was nice to listen to a piece which had been a test piece at college for our two performers – Konzert by Lebedev.

Chris played New England Reveries by Neal Corwell solo.  This piece was written specifically for tuba with a pre-recorded synthesizer accompaniment and is intended to evoke images of the beauty of New England's varied landscapes. The slow and serene opening and closing portions of the composition are balanced by the contrasting livelier middle section.  I found this piece haunting and have enjoyed listening to it again at home.

This was followed by Three Preludes by Gershwin played by Stewart on the piano, which had the audience gently swaying and their feet tapping.

The concert was rounded off by Monti’s Czardas. An encore was inevitable and the audience left Hawick Rugby Football Club Rooms feeling they had enjoyed a thoroughly pleasant Sunday afternoon.