The piece is in three short movements and lasts a bit over 4 minutes. The first is a Jazz Waltz in a moderately fast 9/8. This movement is the easiest of the three. The second movement is a slow Allemande in 4/4 which begins lyrically, moves to a dramatic climax and closes with a return to the lyric feel of the opening. There are touches of a jazz feel to moments of this movement due to the use of syncopations, but it is not as overtly jazzy as the first movement. This movement gives the player a chance to show off some dramatic dynamic and registral changes. The final movement is a light and quick Capriccio with constantly changing meters. There is a modified return to the dramatic section of the second movement, a short development and enhanced restatement of the opening, and a cadenza-like ending. This movement includes some passages in senza misura notation. The piece is not tonal in the traditional sense but does come to rest at recognizable cadential points.
Difficulty: college. The most difficult problem is in the second movement, where a rather loud high section is followed quickly by a subito piano low section which moves somewhat quickly around trigger Db and D.
Score: engraved
Range: First movement: low F (bottom of the bass clef staff) to A a sixth above middle C. Second movement: Db below the bass clef staff to C an octave above middle C. Third movement: low C two octaves below middle C to C above middle C.
Extended Techniques: Flutter tongue and some jazz ornaments: rip, flip, scoop. An optional trill may be added to the last note (not written in the score).
Published by Crown Music Press:
Charles Stine, Crown Music Press
612 Sedgwick
Libertyville, IL 60048
(708) 549-7124
Also available through Robert King--current price (February 1997) is $6.00.
SCAMPATA #1 (1983)
for Horn (in F) and Trombone
This 4 minute duet is based on a rhythmically driving octatonic theme, presented first in imitation. Constant meter changes characterise developments of the theme. The piece is shaped as a fast-slow-fast-fastest set of variations, with the use of the hocket technique in the second and third sections. The final section is marked Prestissimo possibile and uses challenging meters such as 7/16 and 3/16 before a triumphal coda. The tonal language is primarily octatonic, with recognizable pitch centers and cadences.
Difficulty - advanced college. The main problems lie in being able to make the constant meter changes at a fast tempo in the final section.
Score - composer's manuscript. Both players play from the score. Horn part transposed.
Range: Horn (written): from middle C to high Bb above the staff (one only). Tessitura is within the staff. Trombone: from D below the bass clef staff to A above middle C. Uses both bass and tenor clef. Requires F attachment. Tessitura is within the tenor clef staff.
Extended Techniques required: none
SCAMPATA #2 (1983)
for Trumpet (in C), Trombone, Piano Four-Hands
This humorous and peculiar piece was written both to honor my brother's wedding and to be a finale for a joint recital by a trumpeter and a trombonist. It is in two movements and lasts approximately 17 minutes. The first movement, Quodlibet, alternates a slow, quasi-recitative idea with an allegro scherzando fugal passage and a fanfare, the whole being an odd variation on the Wedding March from Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream. A bit of a Beethoven String Quartet and a Brahms' Third Symphony are thrown in for good measure. The second movement, Nocturne (Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral) takes the well known piece from Wagner's Lohengrin through several variations and distortions. At the climax of the movement other bits of Wagner--the Tristan and Isolde Love-Death music amd a bit of Die Walkyrie--are superimposed or juxtaposed with Elsa's Procession. Tonally the piece moves from common practice period tonality to Hindemithian extended tonality to Ivesian polytonality to a few atonal moments.
Difficulty: advanced college. The biggest problem I have encountered in previous performances is the climax of the second movement, which requires the trumpeter to play the Tristan theme in 6 (notated as quarter note triplets) against the trombonist's Elsa theme in 4, with the pianists moving back and forth between the two.
Score - composer's manuscript. Pianists have the full score. Brass have a brass score with both parts. Page turns okay.
Range: Trumpet: G below middle C to B above the treble clef staff. Tessitura largely within the staff.
Trombone: Pedal A (one only-- next low note is E above it) to high B a seventh above middle C. Tessitura within the bass and tenor clef staves. Notated in both bass and tenor clef.
Extended Techniques: playing in proportional notation out of tempo against other parts in tempo for all players, trumpet half-valve glisses and jazz shake, doit, and fall-off, trombone flutter-tongue, singing and playing simultaneously for both brass players.
This piece requires harmon, cup, and straight mutes for the brass players.
SCAMPATA #3: FANTASIA AND BOLERO (1984)
for Bass Trombone and Percussion
This virtuoso 13 minute duet was commissioned by Steve Norell, bass trombonist of the NY Metropolitan Opera Orchestra to perform on a joint recital with percussionist Christopher Lamb. The first movement Fantasia presents a musical puzzle on Steve Norell's signature tune with which he won the Met audition, the Sarabande from J.S. Bach's Suite V for Unaccompanied Cello. In this movement the trombonist plays five contrasting phrases (notated linearly but without barlines to indicate a certain flexibility of tempo) while the percussionist chooses fragments from a circle with which to accompany the trombonist. Each performance will be somewhat different in the alignment of the parts. The concluding phrase of th movement solves the puzzle with a statement of the first phrase of the Sarabande. The second movement is a rondo with the bolero rhythm of the Spanish dance characterizing the first theme. A dramatic recitative for bass trombone, tam-tam and cymbals marks the middle of the rondo. The piece accelerates through a series of metric modulations to a blazing finale featuring triple tonguing against the percussionist's bolero rhythm. The virtuoso nature of the end is a real crowd pleaser.
Difficulty: professional
Range: bass trombone: C three octaves below middle C (ossia 8va--if taken, then low note is Eb a third above that) to A a sixth above middle C.
Score: Composer's manuscript. Both players read from the score. Page turns okay. (Computer manuscript on Score [IBM] in process)
Extended Techniques: Percussionist has non-linear notation. Vibraphone harmonics, percussion improvised fill in last measure. Extreme low range of bass trombone.
Percussion required: The two movements have different percussion set-ups. The first movement calls for Chimes, high G chime, Vibraphone, Glockenspiel, 3 Temple Cup Gongs (or Crotales in C, Eb, B) Large and Small Suspended Cymbals, Tam-tam, Foot Pedal operated Bass Drum. The second movement utilises 4 Timbales, 5 Temple Blocks, 2 Log Drums (4 pitches), Large and Small Suspended Cymbals, and Tam-tam.
MUSIC FOR MULTIPLE TROMBONES
REFLECTIONS (1996)
for Trombone Choir (5 parts)
Composed for the Interlochen Trombone Choir, this seven minute piece opens and closes with a meditative choral and contains a contrapunctal central section featuring the bass trombones. The language is tonal throughout, and the work is appropriate for church services. Difficulty lies in the extended range for the outer parts, not in technical matters. Range: Pedal F (bass trombone) to C an octave above middle C (first trombones). The piece works very well for an ensemble of mixed ability, as the third part is rather simple. First trombone is notated in tenor clef, others in bass clef throughout.
Difficulty: advanced high school/college
Opening: Page 1 of the score
B Section: Page 5 of the score
ABSCHIEDSLIED (1982)
for Trombone Sextet (or Trombone Choir)
This nine minute work was written upon my departure from the University of Pennsylvania, where I studied with George Rochberg. The language is that of mid to late romanticism, especially that of the music of Mahler and Brahms. Stucturally the piece is a large scale ternary form, with the outer sections consisting of a lyric melody in the upper parts accompanied by rapid arpeggiations throughout the rest of the ensemble. The central section is itself a five part song form, with a hymn-like melody developed in alternation with a "breathless" solo appearing in the second tenor and first bass trombones. Scored for four tenor trombones (first may be performed on alto) and two bass trombones (second bass may be played on tuba).
Range: Low: Pedal G (bass trombone 2) and Pedal Ab (bass trombone 1). High: D a ninth above middle C. (first trombone), C an octave above middle C (second trombone), B a seventh above middle C (third trombone). Because of the tessitura, this piece works well as an ensemble piece, where players can spell one another if necessary.
Difficulty: college (for ensemble), advanced college (for sextet)
published by Nichols Music (2001)
FANFARE FOR THE CELEBRATION OF THE DEAD (1978)
for Trombone Ensemble (five parts)
This short (2 minute) fanfare makes an excellent and unusual concert opener. The style is that of horror film music. Range: Low: Pedal F (bass trombone) to C an octave above middle C (first trombone)
Difficulty: medium college
Score: Computer (Finale)
FANTASY(1976, revised 1987)
for Trombone Quartet and Tuba
A series of continuous variations, the Fantasy begins with a simple thematic statement that is first developed contrapuntally over hocket and ostinato passages at a brisk tempo, alternating in character between humorous and dramatic. The tempo then slows and the theme is developed lyrically, with both imitative and chordal statements at various times. A concluding faster passage interrupts the middle section; this final passage features a 7/8 version of the theme over a challenging ostinato in the tuba. The coda slows the tempo to a grandioso ending. This piece is stylistically influenced by the music of Bartok and Prokofiev. Duration: ca. 6 minutes
Difficulty: medium college
Range: High--trombone 1, C an octave above middle C; trombone 2, A above middle C; low--trombone 4, C two octaves below middle C; tuba, A two octaves and a third below middle C.
No extended or unusual techniques required. Trombones 2, 3, and 4 need cup mutes.
Score: Computer (Professional Composer)
The approach to the climax of the first section: Page 9 of the score
An excerpt from the B Section: Page 14 of the score
