In one notable trend in music at the end of the twentieth century, many composers took it upon themselves to make previously anonymous orchestral instruments prominent by writing solo concerti or chamber music for them. Sometimes a composer would be efficient and elevate multiple instruments at once, as in Charles Wuorinen's Trio for bass instruments of 1981. Initiated by tuba player David Braynard, the trio also features a bass trombone and a contrabass, all of which have been neglected in the solo and chamber repertory. On this and other evidence, the neglect is undeserved. The tuba, of course, normally establishes and keeps the rhythm for a much larger ensemble. Here it establishes a chugging-along rhythm at the very beginning, with interjections from the bass trombone, but this rhythm soon dissolves into counterpoint with an improvisational-feeling melody in the bass trombone; the contrabass comments as well. Nevertheless, the pulse established at the beginning keeps returning, urging the music along even when slightly distorted by the press of development. The melodic content seems to spring from the bass trombone's first melody as well, focusing on a part to expand or take a cue from its contour. While the bass trombone assumes a default role as the melody instrument, the tuba is in constant contrapuntal motion, while the contrabass' nasal tone cuts through the warm brass to give a third perspective on the developmental goings-on. The pulse makes one more appearance near the work's end, but the urgency has gone out of it, and the closing minute is warm and severe at once—a timbral effect only possible with these instruments, and one Wuorinen uses as a satisfying close.

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