Arranged for trombone choir…umm, no

[PosauneCat]

I wasn’t sure where to post this, so I’ll put it here. It does relate to musicians and the trombone…read on.

A few years ago a friend of mine, Larry Jonas, died in a motorcycle accident in NM. He was a brilliant guy and a fine horn player. I wrote a piece in his memory which was premiered by the Eastman Horn choir under the direction of Peter Kurau. It is vastly different from my normal mode of composition. It is not only very tonal but was really an homage to the Romantic literature that Larry and I so respected. This is an excerpt from the program notes which will clarify the nature of the piece:

“ We shared a great love of Wagner and the post-Wagnerian symphonists, so I wrote the piece with that period in mind. It is quite a departure from my other works as it gets its inspiration from the Romantic literature, from Schubert to Bruckner. The title of the piece was inspired by J. S. Bach's Capriccio on the Departure of a Beloved Brother, another nod in the direction of a composer for whom Larry and I had great reverence. It was truly a labor of love and also an important part of the grieving process for me. I honestly knew no other way to express my loss or share my feelings for a man who was such a great inspiration. All of us who knew him consider ourselves very privileged.”

A new publisher has asked if I would be willing to arrange it for trombone choir and/or brass choir. I have said no. It would be rather uncharacteristic for trombone choir and I just don’t have an interest in hearing it done by a full brass choir. It was specifically written for horns for obvious reasons! I’m posting it to see if other trombonists agree with me. The publisher argued that I may be too tied to my personal reasons for writing it. To which I replied, DUH! It is being published under the more generic name “In Memorium” so it can be used more broadly, but I just can’t see arranging it differently,

[BGuttman]

Having listened to this I would agree with you. It does sound very characteristic of French Horns. I don't really see a nice way to port this over to a mixed brass choir or a trombone choir. It might be possible for a trombone or three to cover interior parts if the group doesn't have enough horns, though.

I would love to hear something you wrote specifically for trombone choir (if such a piece exists). The writing of this piece is nice, indeed.

[PosauneCat]

Having listened to this I would agree with you. It does sound very characteristic of French Horns. I don't really see a nice way to port this over to a mixed brass choir or a trombone choir. It might be possible for a trombone or three to cover interior parts if the group doesn't have enough horns, though.

I would love to hear something you wrote specifically for trombone choir (if such a piece exists). The writing of this piece is nice, indeed.

Thanks, Bruce. I have to admit I don’t write much for brass alone. I really like as much color as possible in my orchestration so I use a wide variety of acoustic and electronic sounds. I love the trombone in ensemble, especially with viola, cello, clarinet, piano, and percussion. I’ve done a lot of arranging for trombone choir but no original compositions, yet! I was asked to write a piece the the Eastman Trombone Choir for the Eastman centennial celebrations coming up later this year, but the request was made during the height of the pandemic and I just couldn’t focus enough to write at the time. Between the pandemic, serious racial unrest here in Minneapolis, and the worst presidential campaign of a life time (I hope!), I just wasn’t in the right emotional space. I have started work on a trombone choir piece, but it won’t get to them for the centennial concerts.

[Kbiggs]

This is a beautiful piece. It makes me think I’d like to have met your friend.

Yes, it sounds very characteristic of horns. With my limited experience of arranging, I believe it could be arranged for trombone choir, but it would change the effect of the piece. It would be lower in pitch, perhaps too low given the tuba on the bottom. It would, of course, be a very different timbre. To avoid muddiness in the lower register, you would need fewer voices. It would almost be a different piece, like some movie adaptations of books. Satisfying on their own, but a different story.

For those, as well as your personal, reasons, I can understand why you would not want to arrange this for trombone choir.

I, too, would like to hear something that you write for trombone choir.

[hyperbolica]

That stage does bring back some memories. Very nice writing and performance.

The piece does lie well for horns, it would be a stretch for trombones, but I think it would work. Good writing is good writing, and so long as it fits the range of the instrument, I could hear bones playing this with some adjustments.

[harrisonreed]

That would work for trombone choir, and even more, a complete trombone choir rather than using a tuba. It's a beautiful piece.

Has it been recorded and released to a disc or digital download by the school?

[PosauneCat]

That would work for trombone choir, and even more, a complete trombone choir rather than using a tuba. It's a beautiful piece.

Has it been recorded and released to a disc or digital download by the school?

No released recording or download. Too many legal release issues. Plus, the performance was nice but not recording quality.

[harrisonreed]

Rats. If it had been, a recording for trombone choir could be wrested from your hands....

[Doug Elliott]

I don't see a single reason why it wouldn't work for trombone choir. So there's a high E, so what. I've heard and played trombone choir music that goes there. How many parts is it?

[PosauneCat]

Rats. If it had been, a recording for trombone choir could be wrested from your hands....

Quite honestly I wasn’t even interested in publishing it, hence the fact that I waited this long. It just didn’t seem like the right thing to do with a memorial piece for a friend, but I kept getting requests for the score. With a name change I can let it go.

[PosauneCat]

I don't see a single reason why it wouldn't work for trombone choir. So there's a high E, so what. I've heard and played trombone choir music that goes there. How many parts is it?

Yeah, but it begs the question “because something CAN be done, SHOULD it be done?” I don’t think I’d like it on trombones, maybe it’s because I’ve always heard it as horns in my head.

Parts answer: 2 choirs of four parts each and tuba. Peter Kurau asked me if he could use the entire choir of 28 horns on it dnd I says yes. My friend Larry would have really dug that. For bones it could be split as two choirs also, tuba part would be incorporated into the bass trb parts.

[Doug Elliott]

I haven't been paying any attention to trombone choir music, but there were a lot of really nice charts played at this year's ITF. I think that would make a fantastic addition to the literature.

[PosauneCat]

I haven't been paying any attention to trombone choir music, but there were a lot of really nice charts played at this year's ITF. I think that would make a fantastic addition to the literature.

I’ll live with the idea a little longer and see.

[spencercarran]

I don't see a single reason why it wouldn't work for trombone choir. So there's a high E, so what. I've heard and played trombone choir music that goes there. How many parts is it?

Yeah, but it begs the question “because something CAN be done, SHOULD it be done?” I don’t think I’d like it on trombones, maybe it’s because I’ve always heard it as horns in my head.

I agree here. Of course it's physically possible for a trombone to reach the pitches written, but that doesn't mean trombone is the right sound for the context.

Also, completely valid for you to not want to re-arrange a horn piece written in memory of a horn-playing friend, and pretty insensitive for the publisher to give you grief over that.

[BrassedOn]

Lovely piece and tribute. You certainly can choose not to rearrange for trombone or brass choir. And maybe you’ve already decided.

And ‘bone choir or brass choir would change some of the horn character, but can still retain the musical intention.

And a new arrangement would just make the work available to more players and a wider audience.

[AndrewMeronek]

That's really nice music.

I can understand not wanting to revisit something that worked out really well. An alternative might be to ask a friend that you trust to make the arrangement, then if the publisher likes it, you split the composition and arranging $$$ from sales, and we all know trombone choir writing banks rivers of green.

[urbie5]

Starts off with the "Bruckner rhythm" right in the first bar -- I like it!

But as for the question, well -- you're the composer. If you don't want to do the trombone choir version, "No" is a complete sentence! Nice work, in any case.

Urb