THE VIRTUOSO TROMBONIST PAN 2001
Dennis Smith, Trombone W.W.S.C. wind Ensemble: William Cole, Conductor
SIDE I
Blue Bells of Scotland by Arthur Pryor for Trombone and Band 6:00 min.
Atlantic Zephyrs, “Novelette,” by Gardell Simons for Trombone and Band 4:45 min.
Ballade for Trombone and Orchestra by Eugene Bozza. Transcribed for Band by E.L. Barrow 9:00 mm.
SIDE II
Trombone Solo from Mahler 3rd Symphony, 1st movement. Arranged by A. Ostrander; Martha Goldstein, Organ.
Trombone and Organ 9:05 min.
Concerto in Re by Donal Michaisky for Trombone and Band 12:00 min.
In the “twenties,” Sunday afternoons were often spent in the park
where the municipal band was a favorite attraction. The music presented here
of Pryor and Simons was directed to this park audience. Often the band’s
program featured a soloist, sometimes a member of the band. Most probably
the solo was an “air or theme with variations” — a traditional form in
which a popular tune is played “straight” and then used as a basis from
which variations are embellished. The variations often serve the purpose of
displaying a pyrotechnical exhibition of musical skill. Sometimes variations
were improvised spontaneously — the “ad lib” of the popular musical
ensemble. Most frequently, however, the variations were written by a
compositionally minded instrumentalist. This is precisely what the virtuoso
trombonist Arthur Pryor has done in the “Blue Bells of Scotland.” To cope
with its gymnastic leaps, rapid staccato passages, and fast tempos, requires
the highest order of trombone virtuosity. Arthur Pryor was a trombone soloist
with the famous Sousa band and later had a band of his own.
The Atlantic Zephyrs of Simons is also written for the park audience,
but it is entirely original material, one of the first American works for solo
trombone and band. Simons’ musical development was influenced by his interest
in the human voice. The trombone unlike other orchestral instruments bears a
remarkable kinship to the human voice. All other orchestral instruments can
make immediate stepwise changes in pitch. This is not so for the trombone or
the voice — for them stepwise changes must be made by a slide called a
glissando. For this reason, Simons believed that the proper approach to
the mastery of the trombone was through studying the work of a great singer.
Simons, played with the Sousa band and, later, the band of Edwin
Franko Goldman, before becoming a player in symphony orchestras. He wrote
“Zephyrs” in 1915, the same year he left the New York Philharmonic to
join the Philadelphia Orchestra under Leopold Stowkowski.
Bozza composed “Ballade” for trombone and orchestra — with the
orchestration leaning strongly toward the wind instruments. With the
permission of the composer, the orchestral part was transcribed by
Ed Barrows - the arranger for the Leonard Smith Band in Detroit.
The mood of Bozza’s “Ballade” is sentimental at the beginning.
The trombone “sings the blues” here, then the music changes gradually
to impressionistic style, while tone, tempo and the demand upon technique
change continually, with little cadenzas, fanfares and “bluesy” touches
throughout.
The trombone solo from Mahler’s 3rd Symphony is the longest solo
for trombone in the orchestra literature. It is included in this collection
to demonstrate the singing tone of the trombone and for its special interest
to trombonists.
The Concertino in Re by Donal Michaisky is one of the few contemporary
compositions for solo trombone and band. It has the form of a theme and
nine variations. The theme marked andante maestoso is followed by:
Variation I Andante sostenuto
Variation II L’istesso sostenuto
Variation III L’istesso tempo
Variation IV Moderato semplice
Variation V Con moto, leggiero
Variation VI Allegro con forza
Variation VII L’istesso tempo ma con moto
Variation VIII Allegro scherzando, piu mosso
Variation IX Con forza, piu mosso
Coda (Tempo di Tema)
Zubin Mehta calls Dennis Smith “one of the finest instrumentalists
I have met.” He has been principal trombonist with the Detroit Symphony,
the Utah Symphony and, under Mehta, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Pandora Records, 318 N. 36th St., Seattle, WA 98103