Shamanic Journey
Deanna Swoboda
Potenza Music PM1013 (www.potenzamusic.com)
The noble tuba is the only instrument in the standard symphony orchestra that can claim that virtually all of its solo repertoire has been composed within the last 60 years. This is in large part due to the efforts of tuba players themselves, who often seek out the friendship of composers, who they then commission (or brow-beat) into composing these solo works.
American tuba player Deanna Swoboda is no exception to this: a professor of tuba and euphonium at Western Michigan University and the President of the International Tuba and Euphonium Association, she also is a fantastic performer, as this solo CD, her second, ably shows. Most of the featured repertoire is by women composers and most is of the “easy-listening” variety – a number of the works having a jazz or pop-infused feel. Particularly enjoyable is the Concert Piece for Tuba and Piano by the noted American composer, Libby Larsen.
A bonus for listeners on our side of the border is the inclusion of two works by Canadian composers, Elizabeth Raum’s Ballad and Burlesque (commissioned by Swoboda) and Barbara York’s Sonata for Tuba and Piano, subtitled “Shamanic Journey,” which gives Swoboda’s new CD its name.
