Description
Convent Window, an unaccompanied work for solo tuba, was composed for Joanna’s second solo compact disc recording Zigzags. This was her first original solo composition, meant to call to mind a moment of quiet contemplation. The performer imagines Hildegard von Bingen, a woman whose life we much admire today, pausing during her hectic day to look out of her office window, in a moment of calm reflection. Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) was a German abbess who wrote music, poetry, biographies, works on medicine, natural history, and accounts of her personal mystical experiences.
Convent Window is a low register feature, with slowly flowing melodic lines which alternate with quicker, more moving articulation below the staff. Joanna’s second solo work for tuba, entitled ElevenTwelve, also honors Hildegard by utilizing a graphic score of her convent at Disibodenberg, together in a framework of electronic sounds. Look also for Three Medieval Songs, arranged for solo trombone, euphonium, or tuba, as well as Greening Branch, arranged for solo brass voice and optional electronic track.
Thank you to the International Tuba Euphonium Association for selecting Convent Window for the 2021 Tuba Solo Competition, over 65 age category, and Three Medieval Songs for both Solo Tuba and Solo Euphonium in the 18 and under category.
