Posted by Sean Chisham on July 29, 2003 at 21:02:10:
In Reply to: Vaughan Williams - why? posted by Chris on July 29, 2003 at 19:38:59:
The Vaughan Williams is a staple of every tubists' solo library. Check out most auditions for any music job that requires a solo. Most of them use the most standard solos for that particular voice. The idea is not to have a solo competition but to instead evaluate the auditionee's ability to make music in a pleasing fashion.
The Strauss Concerto is much more widely known by most all musicians. How many oboe players know the Vaughan Williams? How many viola players? The Strauss, since it is so well known is easy to evaluate during an audition. The Strauss also has longer unbroken solo sections and therefore is less disjunct to listen to without accompanyment.
The excerpt list is also the same standard audition pieces used over and over, at least for the prelims. Because the music is standard literature everyone will have known the tunes for years. The audition will boil down to the auditionee's basic skills as a tubists and as a musician.