Michael Forbes: Cosmic Voyage: Tuba Ensemble

Though scored for tuba/euphonium quartet, Cosmic Voyage can be just as effective for larger tuba/euphonium ensembles. There is no strict program to the work, but there is, perhaps, some underlying imagery. Tuba and euphonium quartets and ensembles conjure up images of outer space perhaps due to the powerful sounds and overtones that the instruments produce. The beginning of the work takes advantage of this aspect with its forceful, stacked-fifth introduction. The work eventually winds its way into a cadenza section, where individual members of the ensemble/quartet may briefly feature their talents. This section then blasts into the voyage section of the work, where a tunefully melodic, rapid 5/8 meter swashbuckles its way through the cosmos. The initial theme is once again remembered before a metric modulation takes the tune to light speed, thus ending the work in a virtuosic flurry of recurring melodic and rhythmic ideas. Michael Forbes