Euphonium Concerto

For other concertos for euphonium, see Euphonium repertoire § Solo repertoire.

Euphonium Concerto is a concerto written by Joseph Horovitz for euphonium and British-style brass band (or, alternatively, wind orchestra or chamber orchestra). It is considered as one of the first euphonium concertos. It was commissioned by the National Brass Band Festival with funds from the Arts Council of Great Britain. The concerto is based on the classical form^[1] and consists of 3 movements, following the traditional fast–slow–fast structure.

Euphonium Concerto
by Joseph Horovitz
Other name	Concerto for Bassoon
Key	C minor
Composed	1972
Published	1972 (original) & 1991 (piano arrangement)
Publisher	Novello
Duration	c. 16 minutes
Movements	Three
Scoring	Solo euphonium (or bassoon) with brass band (or chamber orchestra, wind orchestra, or piano)
Premiere
Date	14 October 1972
Location	Royal Albert Hall, London
Conductor	Stanley H. Boddington
Performers	Trevor Groom (euphonium soloist) with the GUS Footwear band

Structure

The movements are as follows:^[2]

1. Moderato
2. Lento
3. Con moto

There is quite a number of tempo/mood changes in movements 1–2.

1. Moderato (♩=86) — Tempo primo — Allegro vivace — Meno mosso — Pochissimo meno — un poco animando — Pochissimo meno — Stringendo — Molto meno (tempo primo) — Molto accelerando^[a].
2. Lento (♩=58) — Adagio — Poco più moto — Tranquillo — Lento — Adagio — poco più moto
3. Con moto (♩=100–108) — (♩=130)

Programme notes

The 1972 edition includes the following programme notes.^[2]

The three-movement structure reflects a classical outlook concerning concertos. Traditionally, this design favours the listener, first in the head, then the heart and finally in the toes. In the first movement, the soloist combines clear strong phrases with gentle melismatic meandering as well as negotiating many acute-angled leaps which justify themselves by enharmonic changes beneath. The slow movement has a long main melody and contains the only cadenza element in the work: two pastoral passages, homage to the mysteriously beautiful Border Country. The finale opens with a driving, motoric introduction followed by a cheeky rondo theme. Repeated quotations of this are elaborated with increasingly intricate variations until an unaccompanied whole-tone version of the theme brings the work to a fast close.

— Joseph Horovitz

Notes

1. Changed to just "Tempo ♩=130" in the piano arrangement because many players mistook "Molto accelerando" for gradually increasing in speed (hence playing the passage too fast, contrary to the author's intentions).