Canite Tuba
Canite Tuba (Let the trumpet sound) is an Old Testament quote (Joel) and is a title usually associated with choral music. I have chosen it for my most substantial brass band work to date as it gives an indication of the broader sonorities and qualities of brass band music. I played cornet in Ayrshire bands as a boy and have never lost my excitement for the band sound.
The work is in one continuous movement, but has three interlocking sections. The first is quick, with fast-tongued scalic passages intermingling with swirling slurs. These are underpinned by softer and slower-moving chords in the lower instruments. This leads to a more cantabile section with trills and marimba accompaniment, before a rhythmic hocketting begins where the rhythmic stress shifts continuously every few bars. Eventually some of the opening ideas return before the music winds down for a slow, middle section.
The slow chordal tread from the opening is developed here, giving the impression of waves coming and going serenely in the lower textures. Above there are other chords in muted cornets, and a recurring motif which is highly embellished and modal. This eventually takes over and leads to the final section.
This fast music was inspired by some football chants I have heard, and fragments are thrown back and forward from cornets to trombones. Eventually a simple refrain comes to dominate, as well as a relentless semiquaver pattern, especially in the lower sections.
James MacMillan, 2012