I sought to provide tuba players with an opportunity to sing out the wonderful old sea-faring tunes that I had loved since childhood. I assimilated these melodies into my own particular compositional style, however, altering and developing them as the spirit moved me.

The first movement, Intrada, is based on the mysterious song ‘The Keel Row,’ which is transformed into a march with a contrasting somber central section that is itself a variant of the tune. By contrast, the second movement is a...