The musical compositions for unaccompanied solo tuba by four American performer-composers

The solo repertoire for tuba is characterized by its small size and lack of stylistic diversity. As with other instruments in Western Art music, a solution to this dearth of repertoire has involved the worked of performer-composers, virtuoso instrumentalists who have created new works for their instrument. This study examines the solo tuba compositions of four American performer-composers: Mike Forbes, Grant Harville, Benjamin Miles, and John Stevens. Each composers compositional style and approach is discussed, followed by a musical analysis of their music for tuba alone. As some of these compositions are already staples in the solo tuba repertoire, this study provides a resource to performers and teachers who will perform, study, or teach these compositions. Furthermore, composers and other performer-composers will benefit from the analysis of each performer-composers musical style.