Description
The piece has been composed to demonstrate the full technical and sonorous capabilities that the E flat tuba has to offer. Quicksilver is divided into three sections: fast-slow-fast. The opening and concluding fast sections have been composed to stretch the performer to the limit and as the title suggests, the soloist needs very quick technical skills in order to successfully negotiate and perform the difficult opening and closing sections. The reflective middle section is a haunting slow melody that demonstrates the beautiful range and colour of the Tuba. With sonorous sounds from the Tuba this middle section fades to a mere whisper towards the end to guide us into the concluding fast section. The recapitulation of the opening follows, this time with transformations as the piece travels to its conclusion. This is a real ‘tour de force’ for the Tuba and it highlights the Tuba’s technical and sonorous excellence as a soloist instrument. This is an ideal addition to the Tuba soloist repertoire.
Difficulty 5
(Hard) Arrangements with a difficulty 5 begin to introduce polyrhythm’s and asymmetrical meters. Changing meters are much more frequent and instrumentation may be more diverse, and include piano, harp, or unusual instruments.