Commissioned for the Canadian Music Centre’s twenty-first anniversary through the support of the Toronto Arts Council, the Divertimento No. 8 for tuba and orchestra was premiered by conductor Victor Feldbrill and the University of Toronto Orchestra in 1983. The delayed premiere was due to great troubles both John Roberts, then director of the CMC, and Weinzweig had in procuring an orchestra.
This work is unique within Weinzweig’s divertimenti series for three main reasons: first, Weinzweig wrote this for solo tuba, a desire he had wanted to fulfill since his own sousaphone experiences as a youth. Second, this work demands a full orchestra, as opposed to string or chamber orchestras. Last, this is the only divertimento in a four-movement structure.
The first movement establishes rhythmic dialogues between the tuba and three percussionists. A slow blues in the second movement creates contrast. The third movement highlights timbral contrasts as muted string tone clusters demarcate three episodes with the piccolo and tuba playing bird-song motives. The fourth movement draws the focus back to rhythm as the tuba plays in a ragtime rhythm before transitioning to its traditional marching band role.
Written by Alexa Woloshyn