Catawampus (PDF)

Catawampus was commissioned by Dr. Chris Dickey with support from Washington Artist Trust.

The word catawampus is most know as a term for something that is off balance visually, but it is also a word used for an imaginary, wild, and fierce animal. Catawampus is a fantastic word to use for the tuba which can be all of those things. This piece not only showcases the tuba’s character range and suprising agility, but also breaks the expectation of being an instrument regulated to oom-pahs.