Posted by Barry Guerrero on March 22, 2002 at 04:49:26:
Hi folks,
A new CD of the John Williams Concerto will be availabe for retail sale next Tuesday, 03/26. It's on the ASV label, distributed by Koch International. The catalog number is 1126, and the barcode number is 74362511262.
The tubaist is Marc Easener, and it takes exactly 20 minutes. The orchestra is something called the Foundation Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by David Snell. The rest of the program is quite interesting: Germaine Tailleferre: Harp Concertina; Henri Tomasi: Saxophone Concerto; Toshiro Mayuzumi: Xylophone concertino.
Marc Easner is a freelance tubaist in London, and came up through the ranks of British brass bands. It appears that this recording was made in London, but that's not clearly stated anywher. What J.W. himself writes about the piece is most interesting:
"I don't really know why I wrote it - just urge and instinct. I've always liked the tuba and even used to play it a little. I wrote a big tuba solo for a Dick Van Dyke movie called "Fitzwilly", and ever since I've kept composing for it - it's such an agile instrument, like a huge cornet . . (later on) . It's light and tuneful, and I hope it has enough events in it to make it fun".
That pretty much sums it up,
Barry Guerrero
San Francisco