100 Tubas to Perform Rare Braxton Piece at Scottish Festival
Anthony Braxton's Composition No 19 for 100 tubas will receive its first performance outside the US at the Lammermuir festival in Scotland on 19 September.
A concert featuring 100 tuba players will take place in a walled garden in Scotland this month. The event is part of the Lammermuir festival and will feature the rare third-ever performance of Anthony Braxton's Composition No 19 (for 100 Tubas).
John Harris, artistic director of the Red Note Ensemble, is organising the performance. He was presented with the challenge by Lammermuir festival artistic director James Waters to fill the vast Amisfield Walled Garden with sound.
The Acoustic Challenge
The venue, Amisfield Walled Garden near Haddington, is an expansive space with walls 20 feet high. Harris described the acoustics as extraordinary, creating an echo chamber where individual notes ricochet like mountain echoes. To find a suitable piece for the space and the massive ensemble, Harris enlisted trumpeter Marco Blaauw for advice.
During an acoustic test in the garden last December, Blaauw suggested performing Anthony Braxton's existing piece for 100 tubas. The late trumpeter John Wallace, former principal of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, was also present for those initial explorations. This year's Lammermuir festival is dedicated to Wallace's memory.
The Rare Composition
Anthony Braxton's Composition No 19 (for 100 Tubas) was written in 1971. It had its premiere in New York in 2006 after tubist Jay Rozen asked Braxton about the score, which had been published in a 1970s experimental music magazine. The upcoming performance will be its first ever outside the United States.
The score is introduced by an essay from Braxton, who describes the work as "alternative parade music." It consists of four sections of music for four separate bands of 25 players each.
Unity and Diversity in Performance
The piece is structured to allow for both unity and individuality among the musicians. All performers play a tuba, but the instruments can vary widely. The composition provides increasing opportunities for individual expression as it progresses, culminating in a group improvisation.
Assembling the Ensemble
Finding 100 tuba players was a significant logistical task. According to Harris, when the call went out, players from across the world agreed to participate. Performers are traveling from the United States, Latvia, Estonia, and other parts of the UK to take part.
The performance is scheduled for 19 September at Amisfield Walled Garden as the light fades into an autumnal dusk.
