The following is a list of repertoire with which any musician should be familiar.  Obviously, this is not a definitive list, but it is a starting point which I hope you will continue to expand upon.  I begin with Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.  The tuba does not play on this, but this is an important symphony because it bridges the gap between classical and romantic periods and as tubists we begin our journey in the romantic period.  I suggest that you find these pieces recorded by major orchestras, such as the Chicago Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, The Vienna Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, etc…  If you can, listen to them with a score or if not the entire score, at least the tuba part.  The music library has facilities to assist you with this. 

Beethoven (1770-1827)

Symphony no. 9 in d minor, “Choral”, op. 25

Berlioz (1803-1869)

Symphonie Fantastique, op. 14

Harold in Italy, Op. 16

Excerpts from the Damnation of Faust

Excerpts from Romeo and Juliet

Royal Hunt and Storm from the Trojans

The Corsair Overture, op. 21

The Roman Carnival Overture, op. 9

King Lear Overture, op. 4

Overture to Benvenuto Cellini, op. 23

Overture to Les Francs-Juges (The Secret Court)

Overture to Beatrice et Benedict

Mendelsohn (1809-1847)

Incidental Music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, op. 21;61

Franz Liszt (1811-1886)

Symphonic Poem no. 3: Les Preludes

Wagner (1813-1883)

Eine Faust Overture

Rienzi: Overture

The Flying Dutchman: Overture

Tannhauser: Overture and Venusberg Music

Lohengrin

Prelude to Act I

Prelude to Act III

Tristan Und Isolde: Prelude and Isolde’s Liebestod (Love-Death)

Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg

Overture

Prelude to Act IIIThe Ride of the Valkyeries (Die Walkure, Act III)

Siegfried’s Rhine Journey (from Gotterdammerung, Act I)

Siegfried’s Funeral Music (from Gotterdammerung, Act III)

Cesar Franck (1822-1890)

Symphony in d minor

Bedrich Smetana (1824-84)

Vltava (The Moldau)

Bruckner (1824-1896)

Symphony no. 4 in E Flat Major, “Romantic”

Symphony no. 5 in B Flat Major

Sypmony no. 6 in A Major

Symphony no. 7 in E Major

Symphony no. 8 in c minor

Symphony no. 9 in d minor, “Choral”, op. 25

Alyeksandr Borodin (1833-87)

Symphony no. 2 in b minor, “The Valiant”

Johannes Brahms (1833-97)

Symphony no. 2 in D Major, op. 3

Academic Festival Overture, op. 80

Tragic Overture, op. 81

Saint-Saens (1835-1921)

Symphony no. 3 in c minor, “Organ,” op. 78

Musorksky (1839-81)

Pictures at an Exhibition

A Night on Bald Mountain

Tchaikovsky (1840-93)

Symphony no. 2 in c minor, “Little Russian,” op. 17

Symphony no. 4 in f minor, op. 36

Symphony no. 5 in e minor, op. 64

Symphony no. 6 in b minor, “Pathetique,” op. 74

Romeo and Juliet

Capriccio Italien, op. 45

Marche Slave (Slavic March), op. 31

1812 Overture, op. 49

The Ballet Suites:

Swan Lake, op. 20

The Sleeping Beauty, op. 66

The Nutcracker, op. 71

Rimsky-Korsakov 1844-1908

Scheherazade, op. 35

Capriccio Espagnol, op.34

The Russian Easter Overture, op. 36

Leos Janacek 1854-1928

Sinfonietta

Edward Elgar 1857-1934

Variations on an Original Theme (Enigma Variations), op. 36

Gustav Mahler 1860-1911

Symphony no. 1 in D Major, “Titan”

Symphony no. 2 in c minor, “Resurrection”

Symphony no. 3 in d minor

Symphony no. 4 in G Major

Symphony no. 5 in c# minor

Symphony no. 6 in a minor

Symphony no. 7 in e minor, “The Song of the Night”

Symphony no. 8 in E Flat Major, “The Symphony of a Thousand”

Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth)

Symphony no. 9 in D Major

Symphony no. 10 in F# Major

Richard Strauss 1864-1949

Don Juan, op. 20

Tod und Verklarung (Death and Transfiguration), op. 24

Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks, op. 28

Also Sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spake Zarathustra), op. 30

Don Quixote, op. 35

Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life), op. 40

Symphonia Domestica (Domestic Symphony), op. 53

“Dance of the Seven Veils” from Salome

Suite from Der Rosenkavalier (The Knight of the Rose)

An Alpine Symphony, op. 64

Carl Nielsen 1865-1931

Symphony no. 6, “Sinfonia Semplice”

Jean Sibelius 1865-1957

Symphony no. 2 in D Major, op. 43

Finlandia, op. 26, #7

Alyeksandr Skryabin 1872-1915

Symphony no. 4: The Poem of Ecstasy, op. 54

Symphony no. 5: Prometheus: The Poem of Fire, op. 60

Ralph Vaughan Williams  1872-1958

A London Symphony

Symphony no. 4 in f minor

Gustav Holst 1874-1934

The Planets, op. 32

Arnold Schonberg 1874-1951

Five Pieces for Orchestra, op. 16

Charles Ives 1874-1954

Symphony no. 1 in d minor

Symphony no. 2

Symphony no. 3, “The Camp Meeting”

Symphony no. 4

Holidays Symphony

Three Places in New England

Central Park in the Dark

The Unanswered Question

Maurice Ravel 1875-1937

Bolero

Ottorino Respighi 1897-1936

Fountains of Rome

Pines of Rome

Roman Festivals

Bela Bartok 1881-1945

Concerto for Orchestra

Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta

Zoltan Kodaly 1882-1967

Hary Janos Suite

Igor Stravinsky 1882-1971

The Firebird Suites

Petrushka

Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring)

Song of the Nightingale

Pulcinella Suite

Symphony in Three Movements

Anton Webern 1883-1945

Six Pieces for Orchestra, op. 6

Five Pieces for Orchestra, op. 10

Alban Berg 1885-1935

Violin Concerto

Three Pieces for Orchestra, op. 6

Edgar Varese 1885-1965

Arcana

Sergi Prokofiev 1891-1953

Symphony no. 5 in B Flat Major, op. 100

Symphony no. 6 in e flat minor, op. 111

Symphony no. 7, op. 131

Suites from Romeo and Juliet

Cinderella Suites

Lieutenant Kije Suite, op. 60

Scythian Suite (Ala and Lolly), op. 20

Peter and the Wolf, op. 67

Paul Hindemith 1895-1963

Symphony in E Flat

Symphony, Mathis der Maler (Mathis the Painter)

Symphony, Die Harmonie der Welt (The Harmony of the World)

Concert Music for Strings and Brass

Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber

George Gershwin 1898-1937

Rhapsody in Blue

An American in Paris

Kurt Weill 1900-1950

Kleine Dreigroschenmusik (Little Threepenny Music=Suite from The Threepenny Opera

Aaron Copland 1900-1990           

Suite from Billy the Kid

Quiet City

El Salon Mexico (Mexican Dance Hall)

Dmitri Shostakovitch 1906-1975

Symphony no. 1 in F, op. 10

Symphony no. 5 in d minor

Symphony no. 6 in b minor, op. 54

Symphony no. 7 in C, “Leningrad,” op. 60

Symphony no. 8 in c minor, op. 65

Symphony no. 9 E Flat Major, op. 70

Symphony no. 10 in e minor, op. 93

Symphony no. 11 in g minor, “The Year 1905,” op. 103

Symphony no. 14, op. 135

Symphony no. 15 in A, op. 141

Olivier Messiaen 1903-92

Turangalila Symphony

Elliott Carter 1908-

Variations for Orchestra

Concerto for Orchestra

Samuel Barber 1910-1981

Adagio for Strings, op. 11

William Schuman 1910-1992

New England Triptych

Benjamin Britten 1913-76

The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell), op. 34

Leonard Bernstein 1918-90

Overture to Candide