Suite for Tuba

Crawford Gates on his Suite for Tuba (with celesta, harp, piano, and percussion accompaniment): The subtitles of the six movements (Intrada, Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Gavotte, Gigue) are derived from dance forms of several centuries back, but the harmonic content bows to some mid-twentieth century stylistic features. One unique combination among several is found in the third movement, the Courante. Here the tuba and xylophone play an unusual duet. But there are other strange combinations to capture the listener's imagination. [Gates] hopes that the very unlikely pairing of instruments of this work proves to be entertaining to the listener.