Considering the importance of the Wagner Tuba in the orchestral world, it is surprising how few 'great' composers have featured the instrument in their works. The list is small but here it is essentially:

• Richard Wagner
• Anton Bruckner
• Arnold Schoenberg
• Richard Strauss
• Igor Stravinsky
• Bela Bartok

In our research we found many modern day composers to add to this list - here are a few worthy of note:

Jan Koetsier who in 1911 wrote Skurrile Elegie über Richard Wagner for Wagner Tuba and String Quartet.

Elisabeth Lutyens who in 1960 wrote "Quincunx" in which she revived the use of a quartet of Wagner Tubas.

Stephen Caudel who in 1993 had a World Premiere of his "Edel Rhapsody", a work for Solo Bb Tenor Wagner Tuba and Orchestra.

George Lopez a Cuban who composed a remarkable eleven works for Wagner tuba including 'Gonzales the Earth Eater for Solo Wagner Tuba and Four Instruments' (1996) and 'Dome Park for 82 Instrumentalists' (1993) which includes 8 Wagner tubas (four in B-flat and four in F).

Andrew Downes who in October 2005 had a performance by the Czech Philharmonic Horns of his 5 Dramatic Pieces for 8 Wagner Tubas.