Michael Kenny studied music at the Elder Conservatorium of Music at the University of
Adelaide (Australia) and is a former horn player with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. His
Tuba Concerto was written for Peter Whish-Wilson, tubist with the Adelaide Symphony
Orchestra. Each of the movements was derived from material used in earlier works, A Symphonic Study (1965) and Divertimento for violin and viola (1964). The first movement, Passacaglia and Fugue opens with a short fanfare before the tuba states the theme. Nine variations follow before the fanfare returns and the fugue begins. The first fugue subject is based on a declamatory motif and the second subject is a variation of the passacaglia theme. Each theme is developed before leading to a cadenza, a short return of the second subject and a coda. The second movement, Serenade, features a lilting melody. The final movement, Gigue, is in two repeated sections with new material presented by the tuba in a recitative–like coda before being led back on track by the accompaniment.