Review

George Frederick Handel
Hallelujah Chorus: from Messiah

Arranged by Jeremy Niles Kempton

Four trombones and organ

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 2016
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com

Score and parts

Primary Genre: Trombone Ensembles - 4 trombones

A staple of Christmas-time concerts, and throughout the rest of the year, George Frederick Handel’s oft-performed oratorio The Messiah remains popular with, and familiar to, audiences around the world.  While the original piece is over 275 years old, it endures in its original form and in a host of transcriptions for vocal and instrumental ensembles of all kinds.  Conductor, composer, and trombonist Jeremy Niles Kempton (1944-2020) has taken its most popular chorus, the Hallelujah Chorus, and set it for trombone quartet and organ.

This version of Handel’s work takes the majority of the Hallelujah Chorus and distributes its parts between four trombones and a keyboard part; the sub-title notes it is intended for organ, but the score and its grand staff also bear the label “Piano/Organ.” It should be noted that the grand staff contains only two staves without a third staff for the organ’s pedals.  The trombone parts do require a bit of range; the first trombone part ascends a few times to d2.  The second part contains g1 several times.  Ironically the third trombone part has the widest range, requiring both D and a1.  The bass trombone part includes several occurrences of the D below the staff but goes no lower.

As I have found is usually the case, this publication by Cherry Classics contains score and parts that are generally clear and easy to read.  One minor exception exists here; some accent marks in the first trombone part are placed too close to their notes in the score. The individual part is fine.

The Hallelujah Chorus will continue to be popular. Having a nice version for this combination of instruments gives performers  another good option for bringing this work to appreciative audiences.