Review

Jaroslav Cimera
Seventy Nine Trombone Studies:

Vancouver, BC, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 1959 / 2013
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com

Primary Genre: Study Material - etude

The Seventy Nine Trombone Studies of Jaroslav Cimera are succinct passages filled with unexpected twists of phrase, sudden shifts in harmony and, at times, devoid of logical places to breathe. With a maximum length of about fifty measures and a limited range they will not tax endurance but provide an effective workout for the mind. Those who have played the articulation studies of Arban will recognize the forms and general styles.

Cimera's Studies find most of their interest in tonality. What may throw practitioners of Arban a pleasant curve-ball is the inclusion of keys far from C, F, B-flat and E-flat major. These include exercises in keys as varied as G-flat major, C-sharp minor and B major. What's more, the publication includes an alternate key signature for most of the studies indicating to perform them at a half-step transposition. Even more interesting, the indication of "Etude in C Major" gives no promises of a study with predominantly E and G naturals, only that the work will eventually end in C major. To get there, the performer may need to navigate several lines of diminished arpeggiation that bears little resemblance to the eventual goal. 

Less intriguing/complex is the range and rhythmic content of the etudes. The Studies encompass about two and a half octaves from E to a1. Intervals will occasionally touch on something as wide as an octave but mostly deal with scalar patterns and patterns in thirds and fourths. Rhythmic variety is limited and extends to sixteenth notes, occasionally found in dotted rhythms, and eighth note triplets. Sometimes duple and triple divisions are found next to one another providing a nice opportunity for rhythmic precision. Cimera includes some counter-intuitive articulations that provide nice variation to otherwise predictable rhythms. Tempi are not indicated for the exercises; Tom Ervin makes the excellent point in his forward that a performer should "try speeds well above and below your favorite."

Cimera's "musical puzzles" are excellent tools for working on "playing what is on the page" and "expecting the unexpected." One lapse in concentration and a player can miss an accidental or an articulation; forgetting to scan ahead, a musician can anticipate a cadence that isn't actually there. They are fantastic tools for sight-reading with college level students and equally as challenging as a weekly etude for high school level students. 

-Michael Clayville
Alarm Will Sound Chamber Orchestra