Product Description
Concerto for Bass Trombone and Six Players (2006) was commissioned by the Carnegie
Mellon School of Music for the Carnegie Mellon Contemporary Ensemble, Walter Morales,
director. The work is dedicated to trombonist Jim Siders, for whom the solo part was written.
The work is scored for solo bass trombone with an ensemble of primarily dark instruments
alto flute, clarinet, viola, cello, contrabass, and percussion. The solo bass trombone is the
focal point of the musical discourse, acting throughout largely as a protagonist with much
material best described as bitterly lyrical. The work maintains a generally dark, obsessive,
and bitter tone throughout.
Unlike some concerti, however, the work is not about an aggression between soloist and the
rest of the ensemble. Rather the bass trombone is first among a collection of like minded
individuals all expressing the same sentiments and aggressions.
The opening section is marked spasmodic. Quiet nervous twitches serve as a backdrop to a
melodic unfolding of the basic material and interval content. The end of this part breaks
apart to reveal a section marked slow, otherworldly. The harmonic material starts modal,
open, and distant in feeling (perhaps a recollection of a distant past) before becoming
gradually gnarled again.
The trombone leads towards the next section: an ever-building athletic moto perpetuo. This
reaches its peak in an aggressive and horribly angry climax with a wide-ranging trombone
part marked wildly raving; insane, ugly, obliterated by bass drum hits and shrieking
hammer blows from the other instruments.
A nervous and timid interlude returns to the nervous twitching of the opening though
everything is slightly slower and more hushed than before, finally breaking off into an
enigmatic coda.
Alto Flute
Clarinet in Bb
Percussion (1 player):
bass drum, marimba, crotales
(Percussionist needs one rosined bow for crotales.)
Viola
Cello
Contrabass
This is the score and parts. The score is also available for sale as a seperate item.
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